THERE have not been too many occasions in his two and a half years as a Wanderer when Anthony Barness has been summoned to the Reebok's Platinum Suite.

Like so many of his defensive ilk - steady, reliable, ultra-professional - it is the 'unsung hero' label that has summed up the Londoner's style rather than Man of the Match accolades.

But there were no dissenters in the corporate lounge when Barness was handed the champagne on Saturday evening, just applause for a job well done.

Per Frandsen might have got the all-important goal to rescue a point while Jay Jay Okocha produced another display that suggests he will play a major role in the battle for survival.

But the game might have been up before the Dane's late but well-deserved equaliser had Barness and his fellow defenders not managed to keep the back door shut while Wanderers tried everything they could to get back on terms.

And it was the no frills approach of the former Chelsea and Charlton right back that earned a glowing tribute from Sam Allardyce.

Ivan Campo, his sidekick at centre-back after Bruno N'Gotty's controversial first half dismissal forced the manager to switch to a straight back four, was praised for keeping his temper in check and prompting so many of the second half attacks. But Barness' contribution did not go unrecognised by an appreciative Allardyce.

"At times he (Campo) and Anthony Barness were left two on two because we had to go forward to try and get a goal but the pair of them did a very good defensive job," the manager said.

Barness, signed from Charlton on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2000, started seven out of the first nine Premiership games but was relegated to substitute for the Sunderland game and did not figure at all at Birmingham.

But when Mike Whitlow failed a fitness test, Allardyce had no hesitation in assigning him to one of the three centre-back positions.

"Barney's Barney - never lets you down," the manager said. "His value for money is unbelievable.

"He gets browned off with me because he gets left out now and again but it seems that, when he does get a kick up the backside, he's better than ever before.

"So he'd better stop letting his performances dip off ... then we don't have to do it."