Megson: Trotters in great position

It was Bolton's third win in their last four matches and moved them three points clear of the relegation zone with a vastly superior goal difference on third-bottom Reading.

They were given a massive boost prior to kick-off when news filtered through of Fulham's 2-0 win over Birmingham and Reading's 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Tottenham but Coppell said: "We knew the scores as they were coming in but didn't make a difference to what we were trying to actually achieve."

He added: "The consequence of getting the three points very much made the difference. The players knew they needed to perform today because we're going to Chelsea next week.

"It's four years since they lost at home isn't it?

"So we knew when we kicked off that if we could get a result it would put an awful amount of onus on the other teams, but we still had to get the actual win.

"Now we are three points above the relegation zone and in a great position to stay up."

Megson was also quick to praise controversial Senegal striker El Hadji Diouf who scored in the Sunderland victory and recently declared he will quit the Trotters in the summer regardless of whether they survive relegation.

Megson continued: "I spoke to Diouf on Monday and told him he would be playing.

"I told him that this could possibly be his last home game and that he needed to perform and leave on a good note, which he has done."