Bolton Wanderers boss admitted his side were second best against a Peterborough United side full of confidence and bounce

Schumacher was so alarmed by a lack of energy and intensity from his players he made two substitutions before the break and another one during the interval.

He felt his side were better in the second-half and he was frustrated when a ‘goal’ was chalked off for an apparent foul on Posh ‘keeper Alex Bass. TV replays suggested Schumacher had a point. It was 3-1 at the time.

Schumacher told the Bolton News: “It was nowhere near good enough, especially in the first half. We spoke a lot this week about how Peterborough are a good footballing team and if you're not all together, if you don't get your press right, if you're not aggressive enough in the central areas, then they can hurt you.

“I felt we were a little bit on the back foot. They won too many duels against us, the little second balls, the 50-50s and they came out of it too often with the ball so that was really disappointing.

“I felt even in the first 15-20 minutes, it showed the type of game it was going to be. We had chances, didn't take the chances again, didn't hit the target.

“We decided we needed to make some changes right before half-time to change the shape and match them up. I didn't want it to be 2-0 down at half-time.

“But they got the second goal early in the second-half, another poor goal for us to concede, but we responded. Credit to the lads, they did respond and got a goal back.

“At that moment, we were on top. We had some decent chances, but then to concede the third goal immediately after is the worst part about it because then you've got a mountain to climb.

“We were just off it, just nowhere near the intensity that was required. They were getting too much space in midfield and too much time, so we had to try and do something about it. I think the changes actually were better. I thought we looked better with two up front and obviously a 10.

“We were better when the three lads were there together. We looked a little bit more compact, a little bit more dangerous, a little bit more threatening.

“Mason Burstow had a great chance at 3-1 when he goes through on the goal and we had a goal disallowed from a corner that I'm not sure was a foul. There were positives, but overall it wasn't enough.

"Our support, even in the second half, was excellent and we've got to do more. The minimum that you require in any game of football is to match the opposition for desire and effort, and I just felt that they were a little bit better than us today.

“They had a bit more energy, a bit more bounce and played with more confidence.”