Bolton 1 Portsmouth 0: Neil Allen's verdict - Back to reality after Spurs blip for uninspiring Blues as creativity and goals again painfully absent

Age-old creativity problems re-emerged against Bolton in the Papa Johns Trophy to shatter the illusion conjured up by the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Not that Simon Bassey’s men threatened the Premier League club’s goal too much in the FA Cup encounter – and neither were they expected to – with the display offering different encouraging aspects.

Against the Trotters, however, time-honoured inadequacies were glaring once more when pitched against a side operating in the same division.

Joe Pigott and Josh Koroma remain disappointing loans, Ronan Curtis’ form is unrecognisable from what it once was, and Dane Scarlett’s early-season spark has been extinguished.

The quartet were all named in a Blues side striving to reach the semi-finals of the Papa Johns Trophy in the first of two visits to the University of Bolton Stadium this week.

Yet, once again, they failed to inspire as Bassey’s men slipped to a 1-0 defeat in a match desperately short of creative quality from the Blues.

There were some decent performances, notably from Marlon Pack and John Morrell, who enabled Pompey to spend the majority of the opening 45 minutes in Bolton’s half.

However, when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson opened the scoring in the 18th minute following Zak Swanson’s misjudgement, there was always a nagging doubt the Blues could find a way back with plenty of time remaining.

And so it proved, with opposition keeper James Trafford barely involved apart from several shots helpfully directed straight into his arms.

Indeed the managerless visitors barely posed a problem inside Bolton’s penalty area, giving the 304 travelling support very little to cheer about in a total attendance of 4,413 for the quarter-final encounter.

Of course, in the background chief executive Andy Cullen and sporting director Rich Hughes continue the hunt for Cowley’s replacement as head coach.

The likes of Liam Manning and Ian Foster represent realistic options, fitting the existing club structure more comfortably than Chris Wilder and Neil Warnock.

In the meantime, the interim management have overseen two cup defeats and no goals, highlighting, yet again, where the issues lie with the squad that Cowley built.

Caretaker boss Bassey had made five changes from the visit to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a performance which was applauded, yet it still represented a strong side.

Curtis, Koroma, Scarlett and Pigott were recalled, while Marlon Pack’s two-match suspension didn’t include this competition and was allowed to feature.

Out went Ryan Tunnicliffe, Colby Bishop, Reeco Hackett, Owen Dale and Michael Morrison, with the latter two not making the bench.

Meanwhile, Josh Oluwayemi, previously a Papa Johns Trophy ever-present this season, was on the bench, with Josh Griffiths replacing him.

The former Spurs keeper had appeared five times in the competition under Danny Cowley, yet Griffiths – who started Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Spurs – came in at Bolton.

The Blues bench contained fit-again pair Kieron Freeman and Louis Thompson, but Clark Robertson, Tom Lowery and Jay Mingi continue to miss out through injury.

Interestingly, the 18-man squad didn’t contain a single Academy youngster, reflecting Bassey’s determination to obtain a positive result against the Trotters.

Play got underway amid Lancastrian rain, yet the pitch was unaffected by the weather and there was never any suggestion the tie would not take place.

In a tight opening, Koroma popped up on nine minutes to drive a right-footed shot from outside the box straight at James Trafford.

It represented the game’s first goal-scoring opportunity, while offering early encouragement to the Blues in their search for a rare win of late.

At the other end, Bolton broke down the middle to threaten through Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, but Zak Swanson did superbly to nick the ball away from the attacker, before blocking his follow-up.

Bolton broke the deadlock on 18 minutes, after man-of-the-moment Swanson made a misjudgement following Pack’s long throw.

Dion Charles hit them on the counter-attack and the right-back came across to cover, only to strike his clearance against the Bolton man, who fortuitously retained possession.

Charles then outmuscled Swanson out of the way before managing to square a pass to his left for overlapping Bodvarsson, who drew Griffiths before applying a composed finish to make it 1-0.

A clearly disappointed Swanson was subsequently given a pat on the shoulder and word of encouragement from Sean Raggett as Pompey were challenged to find a way back.

The Trotters’ George Johnston collected the first booking of the game when, on 33 minutes, he tripped Koroma after the attacker cleverly found a way past him.

Pompey were struggling to create and, on 39 minutes, Trafford’s poor goal kick was scuffed straight to Morrell outside the box, where he was obstructed as he attempted to go past Ricardo Almeida Santos.

Pigott took the resulting free-kick but, disappointingly, smashed it against the wall and it came to nothing.

Bolton should have stretched their lead on the stroke of half-time, but Owen Beck’s fierce shot from just inside the box was met with a flying headed clearance behind by Sean Raggett.

There were no changes at the break as the Blues came out looking to remain in the competition.

On 57 minutes, Koroma cut inside from the right and squared to Pigott, but his right-footed shot was weak and flew into the keeper’s arms without offering a threat.

Pompey made a triple substitution on 64 minutes, with Koroma, Morrell and Swanson replaced by Jacobs, Thompson and Freeman.

Moments later, Scarlett surged through the heart of Bolton’s defence, but appeared to run out legs as he crumpled to the ground inside the box amid ignored penalty appeals.

In the 72nd minute, Bishop and Hackett replaced Scarlett and Pigott for the Blues’ final two substitutions, with the scoreline still 1-0 to the hosts.

Still the Blues barely threatened, however, and Griffiths had to pull off a smart save to deny substitute Amadou Bakayoko’s low angled shot.

With full-time approaching, Hackett finally drew a decent save out of Trafford, but nobody was able to follow up, despite the keeper committed.

Even with four minutes of time added-on extending play, Pompey didn’t pose problems for a comfortable Bolton defence as Saturday proved itself a blip – and reality returned.