Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman branded one Wanderers player “a cheat” after getting into hot water with the officials in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at the Wham Stadium.

Coleman was booked by referee Bobby Madley in the second half after watching his side blow a two-goal lead in less than half an hour.

Speaking after the game, the Stanley boss clarified why he had been given a yellow card, claiming he had taken offence at one Bolton player for timewasting.

"I actually called one of their players a cheat and anybody who goes down injured 20 yards inside our half is trying to get the game stopped. The game gets played on, he jumps up and sprints 50 yards is a cheat, isn't it?” he complained.

"There's no other words you can use to describe for it because he's feigning injury, 100 per cent he's feigning injury because he gets up and sprints 50 yards.

"The fourth official told me off for it and I didn't like the way he spoke to me, so I told him and there seemed to be a bit of pleasure in bringing the referee over to get me a yellow card. That's the nature of football at the moment.”

Coleman conceded that over the course of 90 minutes, Bolton had deserved the victory.

He felt a goal-line clearance from Ricardo Santos – who headed Shaun Whalley’s effort from under his own crossbar – had been the decisive moment in the game.

He said: “At the time, going from 2-0 up to losing is gut-wrenching but if we had won 2-0 then it would have been harsh on them as they were the better team.

“The turning point was the header cleared off the line. I think if we had gone 3-0 up they would have struggled to come back from that.

“But they got the first and we feel it was a clear foul in the build-up to their second goal. However, when they get a head of steam up, they are difficult to stop.

“That’s our third league defeat on the bounce but the last time we did that, we won three on the bounce so we have to hope for the same.

“It is a worry as we have conceded nine goals in our last three league games, but I don’t think the goals today were as avoidable as some. They were the better team.

“It is a long, hard season and we have to scrap for as many points as we can to make sure we stay up.”