After netting the equaliser against Aston Villa, Tamir Cohen revealed that a lucky Israeli shekel helped to bring him good fortune on his Reebok return.

A gift from a visiting friend in his homeland, Cohen placed the item down his sock prior to kick-off in a game where he not only helped Wanderers record a valuable point but also scooped the man-of-the-match award in his first start of the season.

He celebrated his goal by saluting his friends and family who were sat in the West Stand and he later explained: "I ran to my wife and two friends, who had come to visit me from Israel. One of them gave me an Israeli shekel to put in my socks because he said it was a blessing and would bring me some luck. So I put it in my right sock and it has worked.

"The goal was a bonus, it was a lot of luck and sometimes you have it, sometimes you don't. The ball dropped at my legs but it could have dropped five or ten yards from me. I hope I have more luck in the next games!"

The 25-year-old joined the club during the 2008 January transfer window and made 11 appearances in his first season in English football.

But Cohen has played a peripheral role for Bolton Wanderers this campaign with a longstanding thigh injury keeping him out of action for over five months.

He admits that it has been a difficult period in his career, but he is now looking forward and is hopeful that his injury problems are a thing of the past.

Cohen explained: "It's been a very hard year for me with the injury because I was out for five months, but now I'm starting to come back to match fitness so I'm very happy.

"It's been very frustrating because it's not easy for a football player to be injured. But that is football and you need to live with that. Now hopefully I won't be out anymore while I'm with Bolton."

Cohen stole all the headlines with a vibrant midfield performance and now he hopes that it will act as a platform for the rest of the season.

The former Maccabi Netanya man added: "It wasn't my best game but like I said when I first came here, I want to improve and get better with each training session and each game.

"I really enjoyed it because it has been a long time since I started a game for Bolton. That's why I ran a lot, but I still need to show people what I can do and give the Gaffer something to think about for the next game.

"I will do my best in every training session and every minute that I play, and I hope to play in the next four games. We are in a good position after the latest result and hopefully in the next game we will take three points."