Tonda Eckert blames his own poor decisions for Southampton’s draw with Bolton
Saints felt they should have been awarded a penalty but appeals were waved away.
Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert admits he is looking at himself rather than the referee after his side were held to a 0-0 draw by Bolton.
Saints though they should have been awarded a penalty but referee Matt Donohue waved away appeals after Ruben Rodrigues handled Leo Scienza’s cross.
Yet while insisting his side should have had a spot-kick, Eckert also turned the mirror on himself.
The German said: “There was a very clear situation on the cross and I think it is a clear penalty.
“The fourth official said that he thought he touched it with his head. I’ve got nothing to add.
“There is no point in talking about referees. In the end we are Southampton and we need to find a way to beat Bolton at home.
“I will look in the mirror at myself; there are probably a couple of decisions that I could have made better that could have won us the game.
“I have my opinion on some of the decisions but it doesn’t help if I talk about that.”
Southampton had at least four golden chances to win the match as they dropped points at home for the first time this season.
Brazilian forward Scienza fired over from close range in the third minute before Lewis Dibbin squandered a one-on-one chance and a tap-in.
But the guiltiest miss fell to James Bree, who scuffed wide when completely free in the penalty box.
“I think there were more than enough moments to put it away,” said Eckert. “It is disappointing as we play for three points. We needed to put it to bed.
“I think it is good that we kept a third clean sheet in a row, and we take that as a positive as we move on.
“There is no worry about the attackers. If we had won 1-0 then everyone is happy; we didn’t manage to put one over the line today. There was enough in the game to get two or three.”
Bolton had their own chances as Thierry Gale, Xavier Simons, Sam Dalby, Rodrigues and Josh Sheehan all went close.
Trotters boss Steven Schumacher said: “It was a massive effort from us to get something from the game.
“We had to be really organised and disciplined to try and frustrate them as well as we could, but also be a threat when we had the ball.
“We created enough goalscoring opportunities to maybe nick one.
“Someone has told me that us and Millwall are the only teams not to concede a goal here, so that shows how much of an effort it has taken. It is also the first time they have dropped points at home.
“On another day we could have taken all the three points, but I’m not naive to know that we could have lost the game if a decision had gone for them – I think it should have been a penalty.
“We got away with one today and across this season we will need that bit of luck every now and again.
“We are playing well. We are standing up against opposition and competing – that is all you can ask for from a newly promoted team.”