Gary Megson echoed his thoughts from last weekend's match at Wigan Athletic, explaining that his Bolton Wanderers team came out with a much improved second half performance during the nil-nil draw against Sunderland.

The Whites manager was pleased with the response in the second 45 minutes but acknowledged that Bolton got outplayed during the first period.

He said: "It was another hard-working performance and another terrific second half. It was also another poor first half, which is something we've crept into in the last few games.

"Now we want to get ourselves into the best position we possibly can and that's another point.

"Certainly from the first half, it was an undeserved point, because we got outplayed and didn't play with the necessary drive and desire.

"I think the fact that Sunderland had eight shots at goal in the first half, and none in the second half certainly shows a big difference. We started to play how I would expect us to play and how we've played for most of the season. Again it's a game of two halves.

"It's a bit of a disappointment to be honest because we spoke about that to the players before the game. We need to start playing to the full ninety.

"Probably nil-nil or a draw was a fair result, but it would have been great if the effort from Gary had gone in. It was a terrific save."

The manager also praised the second half impact of Mark Davies who made his first appearance in a Bolton Wanderers shirt for nearly two months after recovering from a knee injury.

Megson added: "He made a huge difference. He hasn't played for two months so he is fresh and he wants to get involved. He is terrific on the ball, but the big thing is that he hasn't been playing so he desperate to get out there to get a game."