Sunday Apr 20 2008 10:30
Bolton Wanderers manager Gary Megson refused to get carried away even after a 1-0 win at Middlesbrough lifted his side out of the relegation zone.
The Riverside Stadium success, courtesy of Gavin McCann's second-half strike, came on the back of last weekend's 1-0 win against West ham United and has plunged Birmingham City into the bottom three.
However, a downbeat Megson said: "It was half a game from our point of view.
"I was really concerned and really angry at half-time. I thought we'd gone past that and I expected a much better start from us.
"We were certainly poor in the first 20 minutes but we're thankful we have a top-class goalkeeper. (Ali) Al Habsi made three or four top-class saves that kept us in it.
"Gradually we came back into it and the second half, it was like chalk and cheese. We were miles, miles better than in the first 45 minutes.
"I felt that after 45 minutes, because of the goings on at the Emirates earlier and Liverpool beating Fulham, we wouldn't get a better chance to get out of the bottom three.
"We weren't going to achieve that the way we were playing, but our stats in the second half were much better than the first.
"We just went about our game in a much better manner. We're not by any stretch playing champagne football but I defy anyone to in the bottom three at this stage of the season.
"Psychologically, I'm sure it's a big thing for us but what we must recognise is we haven't done anything apart from give us a much better opportunity than we had two weeks ago."
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