Bolton Wanderers 3 Barnsley 1: Player Ratings

Wanderers recovered well from last week’s drubbing at Molineux with a victory over Barnsley at the Macron. 2 goals from Gary Madine, either side of Tom Bradshaw’s leveller, and a first Bolton goal for Mark Little saw the boys over the line and out of the relegation zone. Here’s how the lads fared:

Ben Alnwick 8

Had no chance with penalty and made numerous important saves to maintain the White’s lead in the second half. He may have flaws (hence why he plays for us) but as a shot stopper he is very impressive and ensured our victory in this game.

Mark Little 9

What a performance the Bolton Cafu. He was beaten only once all game by the talented Harvey Barnes and going forward he scored and assisted a goal. I have always been a fan of Little and this was a welcome return to top form. Long may it continue.

Reece Burke 6.5

Would have been a 7 had he not given away the penalty with a very rash challenge on Bradshaw. He recovered very well, however, rather than let the error get to him and cleared a certain goal off the line from Brad Potts. Burke certainly gave Parky something think about in terms of selection.

Mark Beevers 5

A real off-day for Beevers and a better team would have punished him. He made an awful mistake in the second half that almost allowed Bradshaw to score before leading to the incident where Burke cleared off the line but it was his failure to stay with his man that disappointed me. When Thiam came on and Barnsley went to a front 2 Beevers looked lost and we were fortunate his performance didn’t cost us.

Antonee Robinson 8

Defensively the improvement this lad has made has been nothing short of miraculous. I remember the inexperienced young boy with no sense of positioning earlier in the season. That boy doesn’t exist now. His final ball still needs work but if he keeps defending like this I’ll let him off.

Karl Henry 6.5

A typical Henry performance. He tackled well and was a calming presence but the pacy midfielder George Moncur got away from him far too often. Henry is a 35 year old man and he needs help to deal with these kinds of players.

Darren Pratley 7

He and Henry do the same job but they do it well. He has been very impressive of late and was calm and composed in the midfield. I still would like to see Derik playing given his better passing ability but you can’t fault the skipper right now.

Sammy Ameobi 6

Not the best performance from Sammy as he was well marshalled by the impressive Andy Yiadom but Little showed it was indeed possible to beat the full-back so it was strange that Sammy didn’t seem to back himself.

Josh Vela 7.5

He was fantastic in his role harrying the defenders and his link-up play with Will Buckley and Gary Madine was impressive. He was very fortunate not to see red in my opinion after a clash with Williams that seemed to end with Vela throwing a punch. Given he was booked there can’t be any retrospective action and for that I think we are fortunate.

Will Buckley 8

I thought he was great. He doesn’t have a great deal of pace but he knows how to beat a man and linked well with Vela. I look forward to seeing him when he’s fully fit as he must have been suffering to be taken off after 60 minutes.

Gary Madine 8

It wasn’t his best performance by any means but he got himself 2 goals and his hold up play was good in the second half. 6 goals so far this season represents a great improvement for Madine and I hope he’s able to keep going and get some more.

Substitutes:

Adam Armstrong 6.5

Clearly being out of the team was the kick up the backside he needed as when he came on he had more of an impact in 30 minutes than in the last few games combined. Unlucky not to score with a shot that hit the post.

Craig Noone 6

Decent enough showing and it really impresses me how easily he can beat a player. I would love him to start but Buckley did more than enough to justify his inclusion.

Aaron Wilbraham N/A

The fact he came on instead of ALF is a travesty.

COYWM