Bolton boss Gary Megson waved goodbye to the UEFA Cup with no regrets over fielding an under-strength side in a 1-0 defeat by Sporting Lisbon.With the focus on Sunday's Premier League relegation showdown with Wigan at the JJB Stadium, Megson left several key players at home for the second leg of his side's last-16 tie with Sporting Lisbon.

There was no Kevin Nolan, Jussi Jaaskelainen, Kevin Davies, Matt Taylor, El-Hadji Diouf, Andy O'Brien, Ricardo Gardner, Ivan Campo or Gavin McCann for this clash at the Estadio Jose Alvalade.

And in the end Bolton and Megson paid the price as an unremarkable Sporting side clinched a 1-0 victory - 2-1 on aggregate - with Bruno Pereirinha scoring the decisive goal in the 85th minute.

"You are always going to be open to criticism, but the team was strong enough," insisted Megson, whose side mustered a mere two chances throughout the 90 minutes.

"When you look at the team that started this game, we had six full internationals, they had one; we had four under-21 internationals, and they didn't have any.

"In the end the game was tight, and we had to gamble a little bit because of their away goal.

"But I'm big enough to accept criticism, although in hindsight I still wouldn't change anything.

"Now I expect all the players left behind to put a shift in at the JJB on Sunday, and hopefully get us a result."

Bolton go into that game back in the bottom three after results at the weekend, yet despite the end of their fine European run, there is no sense of relief on Megson's part.

"It's not a case of that, we're disappointed," added Megson.

"You only have to take a look at the players in the dressing room. We certainly didn't come here to get beaten, but our priority has to be the Premier League.

"We have been doing this for quite a while, chopping and changing the side, and there was no criticism after we beat Red Star in Belgrade, nor after drawing with Bayern in Munich and Atletico in Madrid.

"And when you look at it, we have gone as far as the other English clubs (Everton and Tottenham) in the UEFA Cup."

Naturally, Sporting dominated the game in terms of possession and territorially, but at times they looked ordinary, with the feeling a much-stronger Bolton team would have won the game.

In the end, it was left to a weakened team to push for a place in the quarter-finals, only to fall late on as they strived for a winner and with legs weary.

"I thought we were always in the game, but with their away goal, it meant we had to score, and towards the end we started to gamble," added Megson.

"We started the second half with three up front after being the better side in the first half, but as the game wore on we had to gamble more and more.

"And when you gamble, you either succeed or fail."

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