Jon Dadi Bodvarsson revelled in his ‘extra-special’ goal as he became Wanderers’ derby-day hero.
Bodvarsson came off the bench to score the Whites’ late leveller against Wigan Athletic as Ian Evatt’s men mounted another big finish.
The Iceland international flashed home a superb header to claim his fourth Wanderers’ goal seven minutes from time at the DW Stadium.
And his goal was no more than Wanderers deserved reward after battling back from conceding early to claim a 1-1 draw and lay the ghost of last October’s 4-0 beating at the hands of their local rivals.
“It was a great feeling to score in front of the fans in a derby,” said Bodvarsson, whose introduction early in the second half helped Wanderers gain a further grip on the game.
“It’s always special to score a goal. But in a derby that’s what you want to do as a player.
“When I came on there was just one goal in my mind – to get us up the pitch, to try to be a presence and get the ball in the box and hopefully get a goal.
“Thankfully it happened and it’s a positive point.
“It was a tough game. In the first 20 minutes we were struggling a bit but as the game settled we seemed to start playing our game and got better and better.
“We started winning the ball more often and then we were able to play a bit more possession-based football which is what we’re good at it and if we had been lucky, maybe we could have stolen it in the end.
“But it’s a good point to take with us.”
The result extended Wanderers’ unbeaten away run to three games and lifted them level on points with 10th-placed Portsmouth.
Pompey are next up at the University of Bolton Stadium on Tuesday night before fifth-placed Sheffield Wednesday visit next Saturday.
And while Wanderers’ own play-off chances now look remote with just six games to go, Bodvarsson is hungry to keep the momentum going and secure a big finish.
“We want to win every game but we have to remember they (Wigan) are second in the table,” he added.
“We have six games left now. You never know in football but I think the main thing right now is just to try and get positive results in the last six games.
“Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday are two big clubs, as well, so they are exciting games to play. It’s a good test for us, as well, so we’re looking forward to that.”