Ian Evatt hailed the togetherness on and off the pitch after watching his side stage a thrilling fightback.
Wanderers struck twice in the dying minutes through Dapo Afolayan and Kieran Lee to secure a dramatic 2-2 draw with Gillingham at the University of Bolton Stadium.
And after a testing run of three successive defeats and the departure of captain Antoni Sarcevic, Evatt was full of praise for his players and the Wanderers’ fans for coming through a major test of character.
“I’ve got to say I thought the crowd were magnificent today and I’ve got to thank them for that because the boys needed it, I needed it,” said the Wanderers’ boss.
“I think we’ve shown we are together and we’re here ready to fight.
“I feel we should be winning these types of games but it’s a start and if we are all together and pulling in the right direction we can still achieve something.
“But it has to be that way, so credit to the fans. It would have been easy to turn at 2-0 but they didn’t. They stuck with us and we got a point.
“We’re not happy we drew a game – especially a home game. But what we are pleased about is we showed some character, some togetherness and we have got a decent result in the end.”
Wanderers were up against it after trailing 2-0 to a physically powerful Gillingham side just 15 minutes in.
But after dominating the final half-hour with some superb free-flowing football, Evatt’s men ended more than a six-hour wait for a League One goal with a quick one-two which had the Gills on the ropes.
“We got them in at half time and said ‘look, what’s happened has happened but now we have to show some togetherness and show the world that we’re together’, Evatt added.
“And also play with intensity and be fearless. Once we got that initial goal it was like we were back to the Bolton of 10 days ago.
“Once we got that first one, with the weight of pressure we were always going to get the second.
“I think if we’d had another five minutes we probably would have gone on to win it.
“This has to be a kick-start for our season. It’s a point. Obviously we wanted all three but this has to be another re-set button and start again from today.”
To watch the manager’s full post-match interview, click HERE