Burnley 2-0 Bolton Wanderers: Player Ratings

So it was with trepidation that Bolton Wanderers travelled to Burnley in our latest attempt to secure those all-important three points to attempt to help us move away from the relegation zone.

Instead, we succumbed to a pair of second half goals from Andre Gray, and Wanderers found themselves at the bottom of the league, with the twitters going crackers as a result.

In the absence of any of our usual writers being able to oblige, I contacted my good pal Joe who was more than happy to offer his thoughts thusly:

Ben Amos - 8

Looked a commanding presence in goal, as ever, and pulled off some very good saves. Couldn't be blamed for either goal really, and indeed did as much as he could to prevent the first one with a couple of excellent saves before being let down by his ball-watching defensive colleagues.

Derik Osede - 7

A solid performance in an unfamiliar position from the former Real Madrid man. Defended well, calm on the ball and distributed it well. Didn't threaten much on the overlap, but then that is to be expected from a centre-back playing out of position.

Dorian Dervite - 4

Had a really poor game. Caught out of position a number of times and made a string of errors. Looked really exposed by Andre Gray's pace - surely Prince would have been a better option?

David Wheater - 7

Generally a good performance - read the game well, positioned himself well and defended solidly enough. Completely exposed at times by his defensive partner's lack of awareness.

Juan Casado - 6

A mixed debut, but generally encouraging. Provided a good outlet going forward, and put some good crosses in. Looked a bit suspect defensively at times though. Caught out up the field for the second goal, but it would be a shame to criticise him for this as he was let down by his team-mates lack of awareness to cover for him.

Liam Feeney - 6

A fairly typical performance from Feeney. Worked hard, ran a lot, hit the target with a decent volley, but generally a bit frustrating. Didn't press high enough up on the full-back, Ben Mee, who is a weak link in the Burnley defence, and didn't provide a consistent end-product.

Jay Spearing - 8

Bolton were by far the best side for most of the first half, largely due to a very encouraging return to the team for Spearing. It was a real shame to see him go off injured, as his awareness, composure, and first time passing were the key to our early dominance of the game.

Neil Danns - 5

Another poor performance from Danns. Started the game well enough when helped by Spearing, but had a really poor second half - too slow to control the ball and move it on, hesitated too often, and made some bad decisions. Can't afford too many more performances like this, given the competition we have for places in midfield.

Darren Pratley - 6

Looked a bit lost at times, and was largely ineffectual. Playing in a more advanced role is clearly not Pratley's best position - he adds much more the team when played deeper in central midfield, where he can pick the ball up and drive forwards with it. I was surprised that, when Mark Davies came on, the two players did not swap positions - both would have been more effective that way.

Wellington Silva - 5

I really struggled to decide how to rate Wellington's performance. Looked dangerous at times, clearly threatening the Burnley defence with his pace and dribbling ability, and he won a number of free kicks this way. He tarnished this impression, though, by ultimately not providing any real end-product, and petulantly losing the plot around the time he was taken off. Also, provided no cover for Casado's overlaps, which otherwise may have been a dangerous outlet. At fault in the build-up to the second goal.

Gary Madine - 5

I like Goal Machine Gary Madine, but he had a poor game against Burnley. To be fair he was completely isolated - any time he won the ball in the air nobody was near enough to get on the second ball. Having said this, though, he won too few headers and did not hold the ball up well enough to allow runners from midfield to catch up. Sam Vokes provided a lesson in how to do this at the other end. I also think Madine is quite pacy, and really should have used this attribute more intelligently to threaten Duff and Keane, who are both quite slow.

Subs

Mark Davies - 6

Struggled to influence the game really, not up to his recent standard. May have been more effective if he had taken over the advanced role from Pratley. Josh Vela may have been able to take over Spearing's role more effectively.

Stephen Dobbie - 5

Not given much time, but no real impact on the game

Emile Heskey - 4

Why?