Gary Cahill believes that Wanderers second half performance against Sunderland will stand them in good stead for the forthcoming visit to Hull City.

Gary Megson's men will head to the KC Stadium on Saturday afternoon looking to repeat last season's result - a 1-0 win thanks to a Matt Taylor strike.

And after Bolton's second half showing at the weekend, the defender believes that the first three points of the season is within their grasp.

Cahill said: "We came out and played better in the second half, but in the first half we weren't up to the standards we expect.

"But the second half response was positive and we can take a few good things from that. Obviously their goalkeeper has pulled off two great saves and we could have easily taken a draw from the game.

"Hull City have gone to Stamford Bridge and played well but they have lost. At the end of the day they have got no points, just like us, so we will be looking to give them a really good game."

Cahill was playing alongside three debutants in Bolton's defensive unit against the Black Cats and he is confident that the relationship between the quartet will continue to improve over the coming weeks.

He explained: "It takes a while to know each other's game and work out what everybody's strengths are. It might take a little more work in training but I'm sure everyone will gel sooner rather than later."

Last season was a fantastic first full year for the young centre-back at Bolton Wanderers, which culminated in an England call-up for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra.

And only last week, Cahill committed his immediate future to the club by penning a new three-year contract.

Now he is concentrating wholly on his football and is targeting an even better 2009/10 campaign.

He added: "It's nice that the contract has been put to bed and I can focus on playing football and enjoy what I enjoy doing.

"I'm looking to improve on what I did last year. It's going to be hard, but my main goal this year is to get into the England set-up as well as keeping my performances high for Bolton."