Match Report: Bolton Wanderers 0-1 Burton Albion

Sigh.

Bolton Wanderers were unceremoniously knocked out of the League Cup last night by Burton Albion.

The Brewers ran their luck, fielding a barely-credible 31 shots from the Whites, yet kept a clean sheet with a heroic performance from goalkeeper Remi Matthews.

Wanderers set up in a 4-3-3 formation with a strong first team. Rob Holding made his debut and impressed, but some of his senior colleagues will be very unhappy with their own performances. Online criticism came in droves for the likes of Neil Danns and Gary Madine who again failed to trouble the scorers.

Neil Lennon might point to a wealth of possession and the aforementioned 31 shots but the simple fact remains that Wanderers lost a game that they should have won and given our tough trip to Middlesbrough this weekend then the defeat will have to bring in a sense of caution before what is bound to be a hard game.

Wanderers showed a good attacking instinct and restricted the opposition here to a few pot-shots on goal, but it is our profligacy in front of goal that will leave fans and manager alike frustrated with our inability to put games away.

With post-match news over a bid from Fulham for our USA international Tim Ream, Lennon will surely be looking at strikers on the market as he desperately searches for someone to lead our line with the sort of panache given by the newly-departed Adam Le Fondre.

Following on from this disappointing result it seems like we're in for a long-assed season.

Can't wait.

The sides:

Bolton Wanderers (4-3-3): Ben Amos; Lawrie Wilson (Tom Walker 90+3), Rob Holding, Dorian Dervite, Dean Moxey; Davies (capt), Neil Danns, Josh Vela; Liam Feeney (Emile Heskey 89), Gary Madine, Zach Clough (Stephen Dobbie 69). Subs not used: Ross Fitzsimons, Filip Twardzik, Kaiyne Woolery, Quade Taylor.

Burton Albion (4-2-3-1): Matthews, Edwards, Mousinho (capt), O'Connor, McCrory; Reilly, Butcher; Akins (Naylor 62), Palmer (Cansdell-Sherriff 90+3), Binnom-Williams; Thiele (Joachim 86). Subs not used: McLaughlin, Beavon, El Khayati, Duffy.