Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Kenny Jackett singled out goalkeeper Carl Ikeme for praise after he starred in their 1-0 Championship win over struggling Bolton at Molineux.
After Nouha Dicko put Wolves in control with a 42nd-minute strike, Ikeme saved a 58th-minute penalty from Owen Garvan and then denied Liam Feeney in a late Bolton rally.
But Jackett was not happy with his side’s overall display.
He said: “I thought in the first half we were very good and then we had a big chance at the start of the second half when Scott Golbourne had a header that seemed to get cleared off the line.
“After that it was all Bolton and my keeper made two vital saves – one from the penalty spot and another when Liam Feeney was through on goal.
“When I came to the club I put Carl straight into the side. He has played back up a lot but this is his time now.
“I won’t deny that after Scott’s effort it was all Bolton and we didn’t do enough.
“That was due to a combination of things. There are certain things that we feel we can do better.
“Our game is possession based and we stopped moving the ball and we didn’t really give Bolton enough problems going forward.
“If you do sit in and defend it becomes difficult so we needed to do better.
“But we are pleased with the result and also we know that you have to give the opposition some credit. It is not easy to win games in the Championship and we are very pleased with another win.”
Bolton have now lost five of their Championship games, but manager Dougie Freedman was pleased with their overall display – although not with Garvan’s penalty.
He said: “We felt we defended very well in the first half but the wind was taken out of our sails when Wolves scored.
“It demotivated us at half-time but I felt we regrouped and the game came down to two moments. They took their chance and we missed the penalty.
“I felt if the penalty goes in we would go on and win the game as we went on to create four or five fantastic opportunities and could not take them.
“It was a poor penalty and I was disappointed with it. I liked his confidence to go up and take it but it was a disappointing penalty.
“Then in the last 15 minutes we pegged Wolves back. It is deja vu as it happened to us when we played Leeds. We are just coming up short. That is how it goes.”
Wolves gained ground on the early Championship pace-setters, Nottingham Forest and Norwich City. Forest travelled to Millwall and played out a scoreless draw while Norwich surrendered points at home in a 2-2 stalemate with Birmingham City. The club would have been relieved all the same after going down 2-0 in the first half, with on-form striker Cameron Jerome netting twice in a space of three minutes in the second half to bring his side level.
Neil Redfearn, meanwhile, sees no reason why Leeds cannot finish in the Championship play-off places after taking 10 points out of 12 during his spell as caretaker head coach.
Redfearn’s name was repeatedly chanted during the 3-0 West Yorkshire derby victory over Huddersfield, but he looks set to make way for Sturm Graz manager Darko Milanic if the Slovenian’s talks with owner Massimo Cellino prove conclusive.
Goals by Rudi Austin, Mirco Antenucci and Souleymane Doukara gave Leeds the bragging rights over Town, although the victory was soured by the 73rd-minute dismissal of right-back Gaetano Berardi, who collected a second yellow card and his second sending-off of the season.
Yet Redfearn did not let that dampen his mood, and said: “This squad can threaten the top six. I’ve told the players the sky is the limit. We were excellent from first whistle to last.”
Leeds jumped to 11th with the three points.
Elsewhere, a change of manager did little to ease Fulham’s many woes, as they were beaten 1-0 at home by Blackburn Rovers and are still firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, having just a point from eight matches. One spot ahead of them, Blackpool managed only their second point of the season by holding Brighton & Hove Albion to a 0-0 draw away.
Middlesbrough kept pace in the top-six with a romp over Brentford, as Patrick Bamford, Albert Adomah, Grant Leadbitter and Garcia Kike all netted in a 4-0 victory. Sheffield Wednesday continued play-off pace, too, with Steve May’s 83rd-minute winner sealing three points in a 1-0 victory over Reading.
Watford dropped points at home in a 1-1 draw with Bournemouth, as did Derby County in a 2-2 draw with Cardiff City. Rotherham United and Charlton Athletic also drew 1-1.
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