DAVID Wagner claimed Huddersfield's passage through to the fourth round of the FA Cup had been easier than expected after their 2-1 win at Bolton.

Rajiv van La Parra's close-range opener for the Terriers was followed 70 seconds later by Danny Williams' deflected 30-yard effort early in the second half.

Bolton responded through Derik Osede's header with 26 minutes left but an upset was always unlikely.

Town boss Wagner made eight changes at a half-empty Macron Stadium and handed a debut to centre-half Terence Kongolo, signed on loan from Monaco earlier in the week.

"To be honest, I expected a bit more difficulty because we had so many players who have never played in this unit together," said Wagner.

"Kongolo was only in training two or three days and I'm not sure he knows everyone's name."

Fellow centre-half Michael Hefele made his first appearance since mid-September after recovering from an Achilles injury, midfielder Abdelhamid Sabiri made just his third start for the club and Joel Coleman was handed a rare appearance in goal.

"Hefele has only been back in training a little more than a week after being out five months and Phil Billing (ankle) has only trained two or three times after being out for three months," said Wagner.

"If you think about this, it was a very professional, solid performance.

"We made so many changes with players who had not so much training with the group, like Hefele, Billing and Kongolo, and less minutes with the group like Joel Coleman or Sabiri.

"That's five players. If you have this in your mind, then I'm very satisfied with the performance."

Wagner, who admitted he expected to be priced out of a move for Norwich midfielder Alex Pritchard, confirmed the club were still working towards drafting in an offensive midfielder during the transfer window.

Bolton boss Phil Parkinson was pleased with his players' efforts after making six changes himself for a cup tie which only sparked into life after a dismal first half.

Midfield pair Darren Pratley, who sustained a hairline fracture of a fibula in the home win against Hull on New Year's Day, and Karl Henry (hamstring) both missed out, while Adam Armstrong had been recalled by parent club Newcastle.

Former Bantams boss Parkinson said he would also be busy in the transfer market as he bids to fill the gaps.

He said: "Suddenly, from having a healthy-looking group, we're low on numbers. So we've got work to do in the coming weeks to make sure we're competitive for the last 20 games.

"We've got ourselves in a good position in terms of where we were at the start of the season after the first ten or 11 games.

"Now we've got to build on that and to do that we're going to need the squad stronger than it is."