WANDERERS produced one of their gutsiest performances of the season to beat Bristol City – giving Phil Parkinson the perfect end to the week from hell.

The sale of top scorer Gary Madine on deadline day handed the Whites boss a headache for the visit of high-flying Bristol City.

But Sammy Ameobi’s fantastic finish propelled Bolton into 19th place, three points clear of the bottom three, with the weekend’s fixtures to come.

“I’m delighted after the week we’ve had,” Parkinson told The Bolton News. “The lads took on board everything we said about people writing us off, they’ve done it two or three times this season.

“People were patting me on the back almost condescendingly today saying ‘unlucky in the transfer window Phil’ but we had a point to prove and we proved it.”

Parkinson hadn’t won a league game without Madine in the starting line-up in his time at Wanderers but named a new look-attack, with goal-scorer Ameobi joining Nottingham Forest loanee Tyler Walker up front.

He also switched to a back five, which worked to keep Bristol City’s threat to a bare minimum.

“We changed the shape but had about 20 minutes to work on it yesterday in very difficult weather conditions,” he said. “That’s what pleased me most – the lads stuck to a game-plan and that’s what pleased me most, we restricted a very good team to hardly having a shot on target in the game.

“That’s what won it. Work ethic, communication, discipline all over the pitch. It was spot on – and when you have it, there’s always a chance you will find that moment of quality and get three points rather than one.”