PHIL Parkinson does not want to rely on his strikers stealing the headlines every week.

After shipping three goals at Sunderland the Wanderers boss was relieved to see Gary Madine and Sammy Ameobi hit top form to rescue a point and preserve an unbeaten October.

The defensive fragility was quite out of character with a side which had hunkered down against QPR and Fulham in the previous two games and Parkinson is looking for more of the same when Norwich City visit the Macron on Saturday.

“I’m disappointed with the goals we conceded at Sunderland, particularly the first one,” he told The Bolton News. “We have got to be better than that – it was just a straight pass which put him clean through.

“David Wheater and Mark Beevers have been colossal for us in the last few weeks so it’s nice to know that if they don’t have a great night, the attacking players are ready to steal some headlines.

“I do want to look at the performance, though, and make sure we improve at the weekend. We have to make sure that when we concede a goal it does not immediately lead to another. We will give ourselves too much to do.”

Ameobi has scored more goals in his six appearances for Wanderers this season than he has managed before for any club over the course of an entire season.

His strike at the Stadium of Light was his third since signing for the Whites on a permanent basis. And while a knee injury initially slowed his progress, Parkinson believes the former Newcastle United winger can get even better.

“He’s getting stronger all the time, I was really pleased with his performance at Sunderland,” he said. “Sammy is a creative player and you need match-winners in your squad. He played up against Bryan Oviedo and he found him difficult to handle because he’s got a lot in his locker to hurt defenders.

“He’s still got work to do but the pleasing aspect for us is that he’s willing to work hard for the team.”

Despite two demanding trips and four dropped points, Parkinson is pleased with how his side have fared over the last seven days.

“We’ve had two tough games but the positives far out-weigh the negatives,” he said. “It was so low at full-time at Fulham but we picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves down and I think the performance at Sunderland was good.”