PHIL Parkinson praised “special one” Zach Clough for keeping the Wanderers' bandwagon rolling.

The Whites leapt up to third in League One with a commanding 2-0 victory over Oldham Athletic, making it three wins in a row in all competitions.

Clough scored twice – including one stunning free kick – and though the manager admitted the margin should have been greater he was full of praise for the 21-year-old’s performance.

“We’ll take small steps, eh? One of our strikers has got two goals and that’s very important because this was probably Zach’s best performance of the season. He was very dangerous,” he told The Bolton News.

“I said during the week that he’s getting stronger and stronger, if you look at the physical stats in training.

“I was really pleased for him. That’s why he’s a special player – because he can produce defining moments like that in games and we’ve been lacking that for a while.”

After Clough’s moment of brilliance handed Wanderers the lead just 10 minutes in, the following hour of football was not without its frustration for the manager.

“I thought that second goal was never going to go in,” he said. “It was just great to see it go in and give us that bit of breathing space.

“We had chances and, yes, we probably could have scored more. Oldham were always going to have a spell but there was just one time where Mark (Howard) had to come out and make a very good save.

“Considering the disappointment we had a couple of weeks ago after the Oxford result, the response has been very, very good.”

Wanderers' climb up to the table followed defeats for Bury and Bradford and they could now move back into the top two with victory at Millwall tomorrow night, depending on results elsewhere.

“You can’t beat the feeling of winning because you work all week for it,” Parkinson said. “I told the lads that when we’re on that coach heading down there I want to see our name in the top six when the Sky TV is going round and round.

“I’m probably not too concerned with other clubs at this stage. I am more concerned with the fact we’re playing with a structure.”