Neil Lennon expressed his delight that his Bolton Wanderers side at last produced a complete performance to defeat MK Dons 3-1 on Saturday.
Goals from Rob Holding and Darren Pratley gave Wanderers a commanding first-half lead, and while Josh Murphy made it a nervous finish, Shola Ameobi clinched the points.
And Lennon was relieved his side could sign off a tough week with a win that keeps them with a faint hope of survival.
“It was a must-win game and what pleased me more was the performance,” he said.
“What I got today was two halves of football, and we haven’t had that in a while, and we were good to watch.
“I thought we created chance after chance, we were a real threat, and we looked well-disciplined and the work rate was tremendous.
“It’s been a good couple of days with the car park being sold, so people will get paid this week, and it was important to follow that up with a win.
“We’re in with a fighting chance now – it’s a small step in the right direction, but it’s really important.”
With players like Mark Davies and Wellington Silva coming to full fitness, Wanderers’ prospects of survival look somewhat brighter.
The latter in particular wowed the Macron on Saturday with a man-of-the-match performance, complete with impudent showboating, something which Lennon was quick to praise.
“Everyone enjoys that type of player, no one more so than myself,” he enthused.
“He’s been a slow burner, he didn’t have a full pre-season, and then he had a long absence with a hamstring injury but he’s really starting to come to the fore.
“He needs a bit more fitness, I think, because he’s not finishing games as well as I’d like, but for the 85 minutes he was on the pitch, he lit up the place.
“When he gets the better of people they tend to get physical with him, but that’s part of the job, and he’s okay.”
Image courtesy of BWFC via YouTube, with thanks.
