ANDY Whing insists Solihull Moors can now solely focus on their league campaign after suffering a 4-0 defeat away at League One Bolton Wanderers in the first round of the FA Cup.
Goals from Ricardo Santos, Paris Maghoma, Will Forrester and Dion Charles saw Moors exit the competition while Jamey Osborne was sent off in injury time at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.
Following the defeat, Moors boss Whing hopes his side can emulate Bolton’s style of play and believes his players are merely scratching the surface of what they can achieve.
Whing said: “It was a really tough day, they’re a very good team, it was two set-pieces, two free headers, a mistake for the second goal and we’ve let the ball bounce in the box for the fourth goal.
“We were better than we have been in recent weeks, we created more chances and were brave on and off the ball, we know we can be better on the ball.
“If we take bits of this performance into next week, we’ll be alright this year, we can take loads out of that performance, I’m proud of the players.
“We want to epitomise what Bolton are, they’re fantastic the way they play and progress forwards, we want to get to that and we’re nowhere near that, we’re only scratching the surface.
“Our sole focus now is to win games in the league, we’ll shut the training ground down for a couple of days and get back in and ready to work.”
Backed by more than 400 travelling supporters, Moors were hoping to cause one of the shocks of the first round against League One promotion contenders Bolton.
The home side almost broke the deadlock when Maghoma’s curling shot from 25-yards out hit the crossbar before Gethin Jones headed the rebound wide.
And Bolton broke the deadlock on 39 minutes as Santos rose highest to head Aaron Morley’s corner from the right into the right corner of the goal from 10-yards out.
Wanderers doubled their lead after the break on 52 minutes as Maghoma’s shot from the left-hand side of the penalty area deflected in off of Gus Mafuta at the near post.
And Bolton secured their place in the next round on 69 minutes when Forrester headed home another Morley corner from six-yards out.
The home side won a penalty with nine minutes left to play, after Osborne pulled Luke Matheson’s shirt just inside the area, only for Tommy Simkin to superbly push Charles’s spot kick around the post.
Bolton completed the scoring on 87 minutes when Charles reacted quickest to reach a loose ball in the box before firing a low effort into the bottom right corner.
And the game ended on a sour note for Moors after influential midfielder Osborne picked up a second yellow card for a foul on Charles in injury time.
Solihull are next in action away at Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday, November 11 with kick-off at 5.30pm at the Chigwell Construction Stadium.
