Hayden Carter got an hour under his belt and scored as Rovers U21s were beaten 2-1 at Bolton Wanderers in the LFA Senior Cup quarter-final.

Carter, who returned to the bench against Plymouth last weekend, found the back of the net with a bullet header from a corner.

The 25-year-old centre-back hadn’t featured since October after suffering a knee injury against West Brom.

Bolton took the lead inside the opening 15 minutes when James Westwood’s cross deflected in off Tom Atcheson.

Rovers grew into the game as the half went on, with Aodhan Doherty slicing wide from outside the box after a clever turn.

Chris Forino - another first team defender getting some valuable minutes after an injury - then made an important contribution, getting a slight touch on Doherty’s cross as Zac Stritch was arriving at the far post.

Carter got Rovers back on level terms four minutes before the break after rising highest in the box and planting a header past Joel Coleman.

David Abimbola nearly restored Bolton’s lead on the stroke of half time but his effort was saved by Nick Michalski to his left.

The hosts started the second half brightly but Michalski made another smart stop, this time to deny Ben Andreucci.

Harry Leigh then saw a strike deflected wide after some good work by Luke Matheson down the left wing.

At the other end, Coleman did well to deny Harley O’Grady-Macken after another dangerous set-play from Rovers.

The winner came in the 72nd minute when Andreucci used his pace to get down the left and cut back to a trialist, who slotted home from close range.

Bolton will now face Barrow in the last four, with Fleetwood and Burnley the other semi-finalists.

Michalski, R Doherty, Carter (Pratt 60), Atcheson, Powell, Dunn, O’Grady-Macken, Edmondson (Dlamini 60), A Doherty, Stritch, Boggan (Joseph 69). Unused: Thompson, Gamble.