Wanderers were beaten 2-1 by Bristol Rovers after playing nearly an hour with 10 men, but what did we learn from the game?

John Marquis opened the scoring after 10 minutes before Ricardo Santos was shown a straight red card for tripping Aaron Collins as he was bearing down on goal.

Antony Evans added a second on the stroke of half time. Eoin Toal pulled one back six minutes from time but the Whites couldn’t find an equaliser in the final stages.

Santos sees red

The Bolton skipper has been such a consistent performer over the past year, but it quickly became apparent that he was having one of those days.

It started with a few small errors but things went from bad to worse when his poor touch let Collins go through on goal.

The forward would have been one-on-one with Nathan Baxter and referee Carl Brook had no choice but to brandish the red card.

Santos has now been sent off four times since joining Wanderers, which puts him level with Jussi Jaaskelainen in an unwanted club record.

Charles choice

Dion Charles would have been eager to bounce back from his miss at Portsmouth and get on the scoresheet against the Gas.

However, the forward’s afternoon came to an abrupt end after he was sacrificed for Will Forrester following the red card.

It was an unpopular decision among some supporters but Ian Evatt insisted it was the right call, explaining that his plan was to prevent the visitors from having possession higher up the pitch, which would have been more difficult if a midfielder made way instead.

There was also a logic to keeping Jon Dadi Bodvarsson on the field given his ability to hold up the ball and link up with the midfield.

Whether the decision was right or wrong, it was harsh on Charles who would have backed himself to make an impact in the second half.

Toal little, too late

Wanderers had more joy in the final third after the break, and those in attendance at the Toughsheet Community Stadium were left wondering what might have been had the breakthrough come slightly earlier.

Toal eventually pulled one back late on with an instinctive finish after Randell Williams’ free kick struck the wall, but the visitors managed to hang on and secure all three points.

Bodvarsson had earlier been denied by a flying stop from Matt Cox. The Whites also applied plenty of pressure from set-pieces but the ball just wouldn’t seem to cross the line.

There were some positives to take from the second half display but ultimately, the damage has already been done.

No time to dwell

Wanderers supporters had almost forgotten what it felt like to lose after a brilliant run of form, but it has certainly been a tough week.

Evatt’s men are still in a strong position, knowing they will climb back into the automatic promotion spots if they can win their game in hand.

The Whites cannot afford to let the past couple of results affect confidence levels heading into the busy Christmas period.

There are no easy games at this level, but fixtures against Leyton Orient, Lincoln and Fleetwood present opportunities to get points on the board and keep the pressure on the current top two.