DOUGIE Freedman believes the 4,634 Bolton fans will take heart from the spirit his Wanderers side showed against Wigan yesterday.

After finding themselves 2-0 down after the half-hour, the Whites battled back to try to get something out of the game.

The Wanderers supremo felt that the better team lost.

Freedman said: “It was a very spirited performance after the 30th minute.

“I think up until then we found ourselves up against a team that were playing for a new manager and a crowd that were right behind him. We found it a bit difficult.

“Their passing and pressure was better than ours but I am very happy about the spirit we showed in the second half.

“If we could have kept the result at 2-2 for a little bit longer then there was only one team that was going to win it.

“We had the opportunities to win the game. I felt we were better when it came to passing and possession and taking our opportunities but we lost the match.

“If you don’t take the chances in derby games then you are going to lose.

“But at the end of the day the better side lost.

Wanderers dominated long spells of the game, and Freedman believes the players showed braveheart spirit led by skipper Jay Spearing.

He said: “We have some fantastic players and I just know that they did not fold and collapse.

“They took the game to Wigan and we were the better side we pushed them back.

“We played wonderful things out there with Jay Spearing getting on the ball and Andre Moritz creating opportunities.

“From Dannsy (Neil Danns) creating runs with his forward movement that gave the space for Andre Moritz.

“Andre is a wonderful talent but with the opportunities we had then we should be taking something from this game.”

Freedman believes that the fans played their part in the revival.

He said: “The fans were fantastic. We brought 4,000 across to the game but they will go home proud, of course we would have liked to won.

“The players showed they were fully committed and that makes me proud.

“When you got that in dressing room and the fans behind you, you are going to pick up results.”

Freedman joked and claimed that he was not ‘some sort of Jose Mourinho’ for playing a role in the comeback.

He said: “In the last 15 minutes, they did not stand for what was happening to them and showed with great intent.

“I just reassured them at half-time. We knew where their weaknesses were and we told the players this is how we get to them.”

During the pre-match build-up Whites fans were chanting ‘One Mark Davies, there’s only one Mark Davies, only one Mark Davies’.

When the influential midfielder came on with seven minutes remaining for a brief cameo, the fans cheered every touch of the ball.

His return to action since February pleased Freedman.

He said: “Mark has worked very hard and he has tried to get on the bench today.

“He is a great fella we hope that he can get back to some kind of form pretty soon.”