Bunn blasts 'embarrassing' first-half showing

Athletic manager Frankie Bunn

Athletic might have produced a stirring comeback to see off Everton under-21s in the Checkatrade Trophy last night, but manager Frankie Bunn certainly wasn’t impressed.

A crowd of barely over 1,000 was inside Boundary Park to witness Athletic recover from a 2-0 interval deficit to win 3-2 thanks to goals from Peter Clarke, Ishmael Miller and Jonathan Benteke.

The group stage three points secured the hosts a place in the Trophy knockout stages, but Bunn pulled no punches when assessing his team’s performance in what was a dismal opening 45 minutes.

Asked by Sky Sports about the first-half efforts, Bunn blasted: “I thought we were embarrassing.

“It was an embarrassing first-half performance – certainly one I don’t want to be associated with.

“It simply wasn’t good enough.

“I’m still disappointed because of that first-half performance. It was something that I’m just not about and it shouldn’t be what my players are about.

“We had to do something at half-time to sort it out, and we did that.”

The Everton youngsters had secured their two-goal advantage thanks to Nathangelo Markelo and Shayne Lavery, but Athletic’s players showed good character to turn the tie around.

Athletic are back in League Two action away at Stevenage on Saturday.

Bunn will be keen to improve a current record of just one win in seven league games.

Athletic are currently in 15th place in the fourth tier table.

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