Wigan Athletic got lucky with penalty calls, insists Bolton boss

After taking the lead in the seventh minute through Will Buckley, Bolton were pegged back just after the midway point in the first half when Will Grigg scored from the spot after being tripped by Jack Hobbs.

Then, with seconds remaining, there were huge shouts for a Bolton penalty for a possible handball against Wigan skipper Sam Morsy, only for referee Simon Hooper to again rule against the home side.

“I think everyone in the ground knew that Hobbsy’s challenge wasn’t a penalty, apart from two people, and that’s very disappointing,” reflected Parkinson.

“The second one, I thought the rule was that if your arms are in a unnatural position it was a penalty and that’s what happened.

“You’d just like to think that after the referee knows he’s given a very contentious decision in the first half, that one, which is 60-40, we would have got it.

“I am disappointed with the referee’s performance again, and I don’t think the supporters will think ‘oh he’s moaning about the refs again’.

“They all watched the same game and knew he was very poor.

“It was such a shame because we played well up to their goal.

“We felt sorry for ourselves with that bit of injustice but the lads dug deep, not for us, but for themselves.”

It was a positive end to another difficult week for the Wanderers, whose players weren’t paid their November wages on time because of a well-documented cash-flow problem.

“When you look at the group of lads I’ve got, we keep going,” acknowledged Parkinson.

“We know we need to improve in certain areas but you can’t fault the resilience of the group of players.

“When you go to work on Monday morning and haven’t been paid then think to yourself ‘what would I be feeling like?’ I’d be pretty demotivated.

“But the lads put it to one side and I am very pleased we put in that performance, even though it was only a point.”