THE third round of the FA Cup is always a special day in the football calendar, especially when we can assume the role of underdog.

The feelings during the relaxed Doombar deliberations were as long as we avoided a hammering we had nothing to lose and could maybe cause an upset against a Premier League team.

On top of that there was the welcome return of Chung Yong Lee, who will always hold a special place in our hearts after scoring the winner in our quarter-final FA Cup victory at Birmingham City in 2011. He was applauded at every corner and came out to see the Bolton fans after the game.

There was also the chance to show our support for Big Sam after his minor error of judgement last year.

It was back to the strongest team for Phil Parkinson with James Henry coming in for Sammy Ameobi following his return to Newcastle.

There was a good atmosphere with the crowd being packed into the lower tiers of the Macron.

We gave as good as we got in an even match and came closest to scoring when Josh Vela’s header came back off the post. A draw was a fair result and we can hold our heads up high after this one.

The most pleasing aspect was that all the Wanderers players raised their game, with Gary Madine leading the line and Henry, back in his more natural position, outstanding up front.

Now we have a replay to look forward to at Selhurst Park and who knows what might happen? As I recall, most of our headline wins in the White Hot years were away from home at places like Anfield, Goodison Park and Highbury.

The performance and result will have given us a valuable boost to our confidence and morale. It also gave Henry the chance to step up. We are going to need our squad players to see us through this season.