Keeping stars is key for Lee

There was a whiff of nostalgia about the place as Jay-Jay Okocha, one of Sam Allardyce's best signings, dropped in and then the man from the BBC put his foot in it.

Allardyce snubbed the Beeb over an investigative TV documentary. His successor Sammy Lee took exception to eccentric Stuart Hall's vivid description of Bolton's 'in-yer-face, up-yer-bum alehouse football'.

They apparently parted on good terms. Little Sam would surely have forgiven worse after watching his first win as Bolton boss.

Now he must hope he can hold on to El Hadji Diouf and Nicolas Anelka.

While Diouf thrilled the meagre 20,023 crowd - Bolton's lowest top-flight crowd since 1996 - Gary Speed's protection of his back four was key to the win and ensured Bolton did not miss Ivan Campo, told by Sammy Lee he can leave.

The opener - a Speed header from a Diouf corner - gave Bolton the confidence to exploit Reading's injury-hit team and hoist themselves off the bottom.

Diouf then took centre stage.

He made the second for Anelka before the France striker set up substitute Daniel Braaten's third.

He also hurled his shirt into the crowd at half-time and full-time, but despite applauding all sides of the ground as the last man off, he insisted that we had not just enjoyed a farewell performance.

Diouf said: "I have everything here with the fans - I am playing good football and everybody loves me! When I was at Liverpool, everybody thought English football was not for me.

"But here, people respect me and I have shown my quality. I want to give back to the club, not to leave."

But Anelka could yet leave, which would be a massive loss for Bolton, as Speed acknowledged: "As long as you've players like Dioufy and Nic, you'll score goals. We want to keep them."

Reading skipper Ivar Ingimarsson said: "On a normal day we'd have coped, but take nothing from Bolton, they did well."

BOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen 6; Hunt 6, Meite 6, Cid 7, Samuel 6; Nolan 6, Alonso 7 (Braaten 75min, 6), Speed 7, McCann 7; Anelka 8, Diouf 9. Booked: Hunt, Meite.

READING (4-4-2): Hahnemann 5; De La Cruz 5 (Halls 83), Bikey 5, Ingimarsson 6, Golbourne 6 (Convey 62, 5); Fae 5 (Lita 74, 5), Gunnarsson 5, Harper 6, Hunt 6; Long 5, Doyle 6. Booked: De La Cruz.

Man of the match: El Hadji Diouf.

Referee: Mark Clattenburg.