They know the mentality to be successful and we have that in abundance
Neil Lennon was a disappointed manager after Burnley beat his Bolton side 2-1 with two Andre Gray goals. Lennon felt that the least his side deserve was a point and that they should have won it.
He said after the game: “I can’t be critical of the team because I thought that they were excellent today. It’s a collective effort and I feel for them today because they didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
“We’re not far away from being a decent team, but at times just lack a little bit of quality in certain areas. We feel that an individual mistake has cost us once again. I would have been disappointed with a draw, never mind losing the game. It’s tough to take at the moment. Every defeat hurts.
“I’ve been saying for some time that we have to capitalise when we are in the ascendancy. We did that today. We knew that they had quality in the final third and they could score at any time. When they equalised the game was still there for us at 1-1.
“Andre Gray got a bit of luck after a superb save from Paul Rachubka. Even if we had taken a point then so be it, but it is the manner of their second goal which is disappointing. We lost the ball in a bad area under no pressure and we’ve been punished.
“I thought the atmosphere was brilliant during what was a great game typical of this division. We were on the front foot and had a real go. I think that the fans appreciate that.”
Sean Dyche admitted that we weren’t at our best but heaped praise on his two goals striker Andre Gray. “Andre’s finish for the second is absolutely top drawer,” he said. “It’s just behind him but he shows great control, good strength and the clarity to strike it like he did was superb.
“He deserved that today because he kept going and going. I praised him afterwards because he gets caught offside and people wonder why. Well, that’s why. He puts doubt in centre halves’ minds and what a finish that was, from where he was. They are the moments that strikers wait for.”
He said of Bolton: “Credit to them because they are fighting for their lives. We knew it was going to be a tough challenge and it was. They were very good for pockets of the game and, arguably, over the game, had the edge, but we have a strong jaw and a strong mentality and I have great admiration for my players, not only as footballers, but also as people.
“We are showing a way of getting results, no matter how we have to do it. We were way below our best today, but the resilience, the mentality and the human element and how they work for each other was outstanding, I felt.”
Fredrik Ulvestad, the second of three players to come off the bench, got an assist with a superb ball for Gray’s winner. Dyche said: “I take great pride in how the substitutes conduct themselves. They are watching and listening and waiting for their chance to go and affect it and they are a massive part of what we do as a collective and those who are playing understand that.
“They know the mentality to be successful and we have that in abundance.”
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