THE very least Wanderers fans should expect from their club is a bit of fight, and the good news is that Neil Lennon’s men were quite prepared to scrap for their point against Leeds United.

Faced with playing the final 20 minutes a man down at 1-1 after Prince-Desire Gouano’s silly sending-off, it felt like we had seen this film before. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t end well.

Cynicism goes with the territory in Bolton just recently – just look at the reaction to Shola Ameobi’s signing on Friday. And yet when the former Newcastle United man opened the scoring 20 minutes after emerging from the bench it sparked scenes of giddy enthusiasm the likes of which we haven’t seen since Emile Heskey broke the internet with his Boxing Day goal against Blackburn Rovers.

It has been very easy to get bogged down with the doom and gloom. And some might suggest the fact Wanderers could not hold on to that lead is a worrying sign.

But credit where it is due, Ameobi’s performance was a pleasant surprise, even taking away his first goal in 530 days. And the Whites dug their heels in with impressive stubbornness during the final stages of the game to protect a point that does little to make the league table look better, but at least arrests a run of defeats.

In the face of adversity, Lennon is finding out who the real men are in his dressing room; who can really handle the pressure?

The discovery of Jose Manuel Casado has been an important one, the Spaniard happy to dig in and do the dirty work as well as supply some classy set pieces and crosses to keep Leeds penned in.

David Wheater is starting to come into his own too, the big centre-half much happier scrapping away in his own penalty box with Chris Wood than tracking a more mobile striker. His experience will be vital, we just hope his fitness holds out.

Worryingly, Mark Davies did not appear for the second half because of an Achilles problem, which seriously altered the balance in midfield and left Wanderers at a disadvantage. His replacement Stephen Dobbie showed some decent close control but he simply doesn’t cover the same ground.

Those little slices of bad luck are going against Lennon at the moment. Prince’s slip in the build-up to Leeds’ equaliser was another case in point, although in his eagerness to make amends the Frenchman clumsily tripped Mirco Antenucci. His mistake could have cost more than a penalty and a red card.

Josh Vela’s return to the side was a success. For the most part the gritty Salfordian knitted midfield together well, only allowing his standards to slip a little midway through the second half.

But Wanderers continue to struggle in other areas of the pitch. Liam Feeney’s inability to keep his composure close to goal was a hugely frustrating factor, as was the wastefulness in possession at times in midfield. No-one can dispute the effort being shown – it’s just that element of cleverness that prevents the Whites from winning exactly this kind of match.

Leeds will dispute that they had the better chances. Tom Adeyemi hit the woodwork twice – and Ben Amos made one fine save on the stroke of half time from Wood.

The Yorkshiremen buzzed around Wanderers’ penalty box frequently but lacked any genuine incision, most of their shots coming from distance.

Wanderers had a nice flow to their play at times in the first half as Vela, Davies and Darren Pratley worked well through the middle and Ameobi’s physical presence gave them a solid base to play from.

The striker, signed on Friday to much derision from the footballing fraternity, came on after just 11 minutes when Gary Madine took a nasty blow to the head and had to leave the field with concussion.

The rangy Ameobi instantly got himself ingratiated with his new fans after Casado’s corner was flicked on by Derik, dropping perfectly for him to sweep home and send the Macron into delirium.

Moments later he created a chance for Feeney that the winger should have taken – suddenly, the mickey taking that had followed his arrival before the weekend looked a bit daft.

A second goal would have done wonders to settle Bolton down but while Ameobi continued to make a nuisance of himself, it never arrived.

Instead Leeds got some encouragement going into the break was Stuart Dallas having one shot deflected wide and Amos pulling off an excellent reaction save from Wood.

Both managers had to make changes at the break but Wanderers had lost their momentum.

Adeyemi saw a snapshot tipped on to the woodwork by Amos, who then had to push a cross-shot from Antenucci over his own crossbar.

At the other end, Leeds keeper Silvestre had been having an eccentric afternoon, heaping pressure on himself with a series of odd clearances. He bailed his team out on the hour mark, though, making a brilliant one-handed save from Dobbie.

Seconds later, Prince had slipped, tripped Antenucci in the opposite box and the world looked like it was caving in for Wanderers.

As the Italian’s penalty hit the back of the net, Lennon shook his head in disbelief.

With Prince sent off Dorian Dervite was quickly drafted in, Wanderers knowing full well what was to come.

Will Buckley’s introduction on the wing for Leeds gave them plenty of ammunition but, again, Leeds lacked the guile to make their possession count.

Wanderers’ defence dug deep and protected a point that could – somewhere down the line – be an important one.

Of course Lennon would rather have had three to back up his theory that his team are better than bottom of the Championship. This 90 minutes only reinforces the view that the division is mostly a dense mess of teams with very little difference between them.

Time will tell if Wanderers have enough about them to rise out of the mire but at least they are fighting, and that can only be a good sign.