PHIL Parkinson reckons keeping Wanderers in the Championship eclipsed the feeling of getting promotion from League One last season.

Speaking after a remarkable late comeback sealed his side’s place in the second tier at the expense of Barnsley and Burton, the Bolton boss had come under significant pressure after a downturn in form since the international break.

“It is right up at the very top of anything I have ever achieved,” said Parkinson after the final whistle, “purely because of the spending power we’ve come across in the Championship.

“People spend money in this division but this summer it went crazy. Every manager, when we have a beer afterwards, cannot believe it. We haven’t been able to complete.

“Everyone knows the magnitude we have been up against this season. When you are losing all the time it isn’t easy to keep the morale right at the training ground but the players have trained very, very well, and there have been very rare occasions where the standards have slipped.

“We know we come up against teams who have better quality. But sometimes you have got to produce when the pressure is on, and we did that today.

“I need to thank all the staff who have worked with me. They have stayed really strong when the criticism came my way. It was inevitable and it doesn’t matter who you are, when you are losing games you are going to be questioned about your decisions. They have been rock solid.”