SAM Allardyce was full of praise for his battling heroes, who stood firm in the face of the storming Everton attack at Goodison Park on Saturday writes Richard Mulligan

The Bolton boss was delighted by the efforts of goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and defenders Gudni Bergsson, Ivan Campo, Anthony Barness and Simon Charlton who kept the Toffees at bay.

Everton have a top home record, having won six of their nine games at Goodison Park this season, and managed 12 shots on target on Saturday.

But Bolton kept it tight at the back, and Allardyce believes a first clean sheet since mid-September bodes well for the future.

He said: "You would have thought a clean sheet and goalless draw was unlikely with us winning 4-3 the other day and Everton's good home record.

"But I'm glad today was the day we broke that record and it was a very deserved achievement. There was some excellent defending from the back five, and particularly the goalkeeper, throughout the whole of the game.

"We stood firm and solid when the pressure really came on during the second half, and there were some desperate efforts to keep the ball out of the back of the net, not least when Simon Charlton came across from left back and made an unbelievable tackle in the box just as Rooney was about to shoot.

"What a fantastic block. That just shows the determination of the players during the game.

"We weathered that storm and came back well and had some excellent opportunities ourselves.

"I thought Jay Jay had pulled one out of the bag for us when he hit the bar, we also had a few corners dropped down."

Another player to come close to grabbing a winner was Stig Tofting, who continued to impress with a no-nonsense display after replacing Michael Ricketts on 60 minutes.

Tofting raced on to a half-cleared corner but Campo could not get out of the way before the Dane let fly.

Allardyce is particularly impressed with the way his side worked as a unit and the enthusiasm of all his squad to come in and do a job.

He said: "Stig looked like he would score but unfortunately Ivan took it off his toe - perhaps that is a Spanish-Danish communication that is not quite right.

"Stig came into the unit because Michael was struggling and did a great job. The team looked no worse for making that change, which I'm pleased about.

"Also Delroy came on for Henrik, who had a bit of a dead leg, and that gives him a nice little taster of the Premiership.

"That is crucially important for all members of the squad at this stage of the season.

"We are really playing like a unit, and I am really happy about the way the squad players came in and did what was asked of them. Ivan came back and Kevin came in because of injuries.

"On top of that Michael played with a bad neck and Henrik played with a dead leg and went through the pain barrier."

Allardyce was less impressed by the performance of official Dermot Gallagher, particularly for the bookings he dished out to Per Frandsen, Charlton, Ricketts and Bergsson. He said: "I'm very disappointed in the referee's handling of the game, the yellow cards were totally out of order."

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