Bolton Wanderers boss Steven Schumacher hailed the impact his second-half substitutions made in their League One play-off final win over Stockport County, as they earned their promotion back to the Championship in style.
Schumacher made a key tactical change, bringing off Xavier Simons and sending striker Sam Dalby on.
It was an inspired decision as it gave his Wanderers side the attacking impetus to take the game to Stockport.
Dalby scored with a spectacular acrobatic finish on the way to clinching promotion back to the Championship after seven years away.
“Sometimes you get those calls right. I don’t know what minute Sam came on, but I thought ‘Get Xav off and put Ruben [Rodrigues] in midfield, who’s a bit more attacking and really go for it’,” Schumacher told Radio Manchester.
“I could have put Ethan Erhahon on and shored it up a bit, but it was do-or-die, so [I thought] let’s go for it and be positive – that’s the way my mind works.
“Thankfully it worked. Sam Dalby was outstanding, as were the other subs who came on.”
Bolton had taken the lead through Rodrigues but Adama Sidibeh scored Stockport’s equaliser in a thrilling first half.
Bolton came racing out of the blocks in the second half and put in a controlled performance to see out the victory.
“The message [at half-time] was that we could be a bit higher up the pitch. Sidibe was causing us a problem,” Schumacher explained.
“It’s not easy defending in that weather, so we said we’d make more, shorter passes and move higher up the pitch and get our dangerous players in the final third on the ball.
“We managed to do that in the second half. Everyone who did that, to a man, was excellent.”
