STANLEY boss John Coleman admitted he was stunned to see his side on the wrong end of a 4-0 thrashing by Wolves Under-21s after they dominated for the first 15 minutes at Molineux.

The Reds needed a win from their final Checkatrade Trophy group match to ensure they progressed to the knockout stages.

MORE TOP STORIES:

But instead they came unstuck against a young Wanderers side led by former Blackburn Rovers winger Scott Sellars.

Coleman said afterwards: “The biggest disappointment was that after 15 minutes, if someone would have told you Wolves were going to win that game 4-0 they’d have carted you off in a straight jacket because they weren’t in the game, they hadn’t been near the edge of our box.

“We were controlling the game, passing it well, and made the odd chance ourselves.

“The disappointing thing is that once we conceded the first goal we folded.

“I just don’t like getting beat full stop “Fair play to them, they couldn’t get near us but they scored and it was as if someone had lit the touchpaper.

“They were very good and we were very poor.

“They ran through us time and time again and we conceded some sloppy goals. Then we seemed to lose interest, which is disappointing. There have been some harsh words.

“Whatever team you put out, we had quite a strong side out there and we’re going through the rollercoaster of highs and lows, and that was very much a low.”

Coleman gave first year apprentice Ross Sykes another start in the centre of defence and was dismayed about the decision to penalise the youngster for a penalty that earned Wolves their third goal.

“It’s a joke of a penalty,” he said. “That spoiled the game because it ended it as a contest. Sometimes things like that go against you, but our whole approach to the game was wrong tonight after the first 15 minutes.

“We started the game really well, really brightly, but for some reason we lost our way and we’re going to have to pull our finger out.”

As well as Sykes, youth team player Reagan Ogle also got a taste of the action off the bench.

“Hopefully it won’t be the end for them,” said the manager. “I hope they’ve both got bright futures ahead of them. But we had enough experience on the pitch to play better than we did.”