IAN Evatt had no complaints with the way his side performed as they bowed out of the Carabao Cup against Aston Villa.

Wanderers gave as good as they got for an hour until a controversial Danny Ings penalty allowed the Midlanders to go 2-1 up. After that, Villa’s class told.

Late goals from Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey widened the margin of victory – and there were chances to make it an even more emphatic score at the end.

But Evatt was pleased with what he got and could not be critical as he turned back towards the league and a trip to Plymouth at the weekend.

“For 60 minutes we were right in the game and had them wobbled,” he said.

“It is easy for lower league teams to set up to defend, to back off, but it is not what we do.

“We started great with a high press. We wanted to go for them toe to toe and that is what we did for 60 minutes.

“You could see they were a team lacking in confidence a bit and that set piece didn’t so much get them out of jail, but it gave them confidence. It gave them some belief back.

“Second half we were bang in the game but we knew we would have to ride some rough spells.

“The second goal looked offside to me. You could see their confidence flooding back in the last 20 minutes. It was a bit naïve from us because we were still pushing and wanting to get something out of the game and it could have been extremely harsh. I think the score-line flatters them a bit. For 60 minutes we were right in the game.”

Wanderers made six changes to the team that had lost against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, whereas Steven Gerrard did not tinker much with the side beaten by Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

“It shows the quality of the squad that players could come in and still compete,” said the Bolton boss. “I wanted freshness and I have said that I trust them all to come in and execute the gameplan.”

Wanderers have noy lost back-to-back games since January but Evatt is not unduly concerned.

“I don’t think anyone really gave us a chance tonight, especially when the teamsheets came out,” he said. “We showed lots of things that make us a good team at our level.

“We are playing against some of the league’s best players. Coutinho has played at Barcelona and you are talking about League One footballers here. We have got to prepare for Plymouth. We have enjoyed tonight, a great learning curve.”