Schumacher hails Bolton subs after Wembley triumph

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 BBC 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."

Schumacher has now achieved promotion from League One twice, having previously won the League One title with Plymouth Argyle in 2023.

His current club came close to going out of existence in 2019 in the midst of financial problems.

That summer, Football Ventures completed a takeover, but an impaired start to the 2019-20 campaign because of their previous issues, as well as the impending Covid-19 pandemic, meant they were relegated for the second time in as many seasons.

Former boss Ian Evatt led the return to League One as they earned automatic promotion from League Two, but he came unstuck in his endeavours to then win a subsequent promotion to the Championship.

Whereas their previous appearance in a third tier play-off final, in 2024, saw them put in an uncharacteristically poor performance as they were well beaten by Oxford United, it was a totally different story this time around.

Despite the game being played in sweltering conditions at Wembley, Bolton seemed nerveless and rarely looked tired by the occasion, unlike their opponents.

"I feel pride because there's pressure on this job and when you come in, even when you draw a game it's like a defeat," Schumacher added.

"There's pressure on it, so to achieve the promotion with the pressure and this group of players and staff is the next step on the journey for us.

"I'm proud as it's been a whole team effort and we look forward to the Championship and we go on to attack that next year.

"It's never boring. We're obviously a good match because my teams are never boring either. It's not always vintage, but it's exciting."