GARY Megson is not counting his chickens despite seeing his side’s fortunes take a turn for the better.

The Wanderers boss hailed his players’ efforts after taking four points from the last six to pull themselves out of the bottom three.

But he is mindful of the need to capitalise on the victory over West Ham, and says the result of their next game at Wigan could provide a more effective yardstick to their recent improvement.

“The players deserve a huge amount of credit for the way they have gone about things,” the manager said. “But we have got to kick on now.

“We’ve got to come up with a result where no-one expects us to get a result. That’s probably Wigan.

“It might also have been the case against City because I don’t think anyone thought we would get anything from the game.

“But people talked about the West Ham game being a huge one, a must-win game, and it was. We were delighted to come out on top.”

Megson admitted there was a moment after Alessandro Diamante had equalised for West Ham United at the Reebok on Tuesday night when he feared the worst.

“There was maybe three or four minutes when I thought ‘oh crikey, here we go’,” he said.

“We’re thankful that Ivan Klasnic is Johnny on the Spot. But aside for that period, I thought we were well on top.

“Of course, it’s to the players’ credit. There are a lot of things that people can criticise us for, but honesty, endeavour and work-rate are not any of them.

“Every time — and I mean every time — we get the Pro Zone stats back 48 hours after a game, there has never been a time where the opposition has out-worked us, or done anything more in terms of high intensity.”

Klasnic’s fifth goal of the season came about as a result of Rob Green’s error — and the Wanderers boss was at a loss to explain why Lady Luck has suddenly decided to return to the Reebok.

He said: “We were a little bit fortunate that the keeper made a mistake and Ivan was on the spot to give us a 2-1 lead at an absolutely vital time.

"I don’t like going on about luck. But if you go through the last four or five games and look at some of the big incidents that have gone against us, and where we would be if they hadn’t have happened, it would be interesting.”

Meanwhile, former Bolton favourite Ivan Campo is hoping to extend his career in Cyprus. The 35-year-old midfielder, who was released by Ipswich Town in the summer, is training with Second Division club AEK Larnaca.

Campo made 166 starts for the Whites in a six-year stay, after initially signing from Real Madrid on loan.

The Spaniard has been searching for a club since leaving Portman Road and is thought to be seeking an 18-month deal at the promotion-chasing Cypriot club.