Former team-mate Emile Heskey won the points for Neil Lennon today as Bolton came from behind to beat Blackburn 2-1.
The victory lifted Bolton into 14th place with Lennon’s side edging closer to the play-off places than the relegation dogfight.
Heskey was making his first appearance in English football for two years after a stint in Australia and was pleased to make his mark on his Bolton debut.
“I played with Neil Lennon and Garry Parker when I was younger and Parks called me up and asked if I wanted to train with a view of having a look at me,” the former England striker explained. “Within a week I was lucky enough to earn a contract.
“The younger players can learn from players like myself and Eidur (Gudjonhsen). We’ve done a lot over our careers and that’s why the manager has brought us in. Not just for now, but for the future and we hope we can make the younger players world-class players.
With an eight match unbeaten run Bolton go into the new year confidently with Lennon delighted to get a turn out of two men considered past their peak.
“It is a great story because maybe people have been laughing about us bringing these two guys in,” the former Celtic boss said. “But you can see the qualities they still have.
“We knew going into the game we didn’t have a bone fide striker and we missed that physical presence in the first half. Second half was night and day and Emile was a huge influence in how we played.
“A lot of eyebrows were raised when we brought him and Eidur Gudjohnsen in but they’ve lifted the game and the stadium.
“We are really down to the bare bones at the moment but I can’t speak highly enough of the effort these players are putting in right now.
“I’d like us to play better than we did first half. We’re okay going forward but defensively it was Keystone Cops at times. I think we turned it into a classic.”
Elsewhere in the Championship Mick McCarthy’s Ipswich went second after a 4-2 win at Brentford that included a double for Daryl Murphy while Malky Mackay got a welcome win for Wigan away to Leeds. Gary Hooper scored twice in Norwich’s 6-1 win over Millwall.
