MIKE Whitlow says the famous Bolton spirit can be the key to survival.

The defender played a big part in winning a point in Saturday's relegation dogfight after coming on at half time.

His performance typified the determination and resilience which was required and produced to earn a share of Saturday's spoils - and which he believes will be needed until the end of the season.

Last season's success was based on a team spirit which made Wanderers hard to beat. The addition of class players has turned the emphasis more on quality this season but Whitlow was delighted to see some of the old fighting qualities take centre stage on Saturday.

He said: "No disrespect to any of the players but in that second half it was the Bolton of old.

"One player makes a mistake and there's another one there to get on the end of it.

"Somebody misses a tackle and there is another white shirt there to make amends. If someone misses the ball you might give them a bit of a rollocking but we care for each other and we want to win for each other.

"It was nice to be back involved and I want to stay in the side and get results for the side.

"The lads worked so hard and fought for everything. We got it sorted a bit.

"There was so much to be pleased about. The main thing was seeing Michael scoring again and we saw the Michael Ricketts of old out there, getting in the corners and chasing down. Kevin Nolan - fantastic, Ricardo Gardner's energy and Jay Jay Okocha showing how he is always going to cause a problem.

"That second half was put together with sheer determination and after the match we said let's not waste that by not producing the same in the future.

"It is going to be a massive game on Boxing Day and we need to get the result otherwise all this was in vain.

"We have to go out there and battle for 90 minutes against Newcastle and then in every game. We might pick up a few bookings and give away a few free kicks but that is the determination we need to show if we are going to get out of this."