Wanderers 1 Sunderland 1 - IF Bolton can take any heart from this home draw with Sunderland it is that other teams can make even bigger errors at the back than themselves.

But in taking just a single point from this home fixture against fellow strugglers, it is perhaps of little consolation that Phil Babb's own goal, which levelled the scores level ten minutes from time, is much more likely to go on a 'football bloopers' video than Ivan Campo's half-hearted headed clearance which set up Michael Gray's opener for the visitors.

Two mistakes created two goals in this battle of wills which was short on quality but proved Bolton's perseverance, coming from behind for the second consecutive Premiership game at the Reebok to salvage a point.

A certain viewpoint suggests a draw was a good result against tough opposition buoyed by a new manager, Howard Wilkinson, and considering the shock team news before the game, that Paul Warhurst and Gudni Bergsson could both be missing through injury for up to a month, a point is surely not such a disaster.

Sam Allardyce's use of a 3-5-2 formation was another turn-up for the books, and it seemed to be working well early on with wing-backs Ricardo Gardner and Bernard Mendy looking to get forward as often as possible and it almost paid off immediately as stand-in captain Youri Djorkaeff made his presence felt when he played Michael Ricketts through with a fabulous ball, only for Jody Craddock to produce a saving tackle on the forward.

And the Frenchman produced the

first shot of the game with a neat piece of skill, which saw him control and shoot just off target in one movement.

Yet the new look formation was also quickly tested when a long ball from Stephen Wright caught Gardner out of position, and set David Bellion free on the right, the speedy forward squaring to Kevin Phillips, who should have done better with a cheeky back-heel that ran wide.

Even so Wanderers enjoyed their best period of play around the midway point of the first half when they dictated possession, but failed to turn it into chances.

On several occasions the central midfield trio of Kevin Nolan, Gareth Farrelly and Per Frandsen managed to string a series of passes together, always looking to release Mendy and Gardner out wide. but the final pass lacked creativity to test Howard Wilkinson's well-organised defence.

Yet it was no easy ride for the visitors, who lost goalkeeper Thomas Myhre after 26 minutes before influential midfielder Claudio Reyna was stretchered off six minutes before the interval.

While that was a blow for the Wearsiders, it was indirectly the catalyst for the opening goal with Michael Gray being forced to move into midfield.

During injury time a long clearance from Sunderland's sub keeper Jurgen Macho was headed on by Kevin Kilbane and Bellion. Campo, under little pressure, was offered the opportunity to clear, or even cushion the ball into the path of Nolan or Bruno N'Gotty but merely headed down into the path of the advancing Gray, who blasted a perfect shot from a full 30-yards.

The half ended with a chorus of jeers, and there was little to suggest that Wanderers were going to change for the better as the second period got under way.

Campo almost made amends for his mistake soon after when he climbed above the Sunderland defence to nod a Gardner corner just wide but not for the first time but Wanderers did not look to have a plan to inspire anything more creative than set-pieces and long range efforts.

But just at the point when it seemed Bolton had completely run out of ideas, they were gifted with an equaliser from Babb, part of the central defensive combination alongside Craddock, that had so successfully heldWanderers out.

In the 80th minute a long throw from Farrelly was unsuccessfully cleared and landed at the feet of Kilbane, who only made things worse by blasting the ball high into the air.

Babb - making his 300th league appearance - tried to head clear but failed to get enough on the ball and diverted past his stunned keeper.

Substitute Tore Andre Flo was then given a golden opportunity to put Sunderland back ahead, while another long range effort from Frandsen was flicked on by Ricketts and forced a good save from Macho.

There was a brief scare for Wanderers fans at the close when Bellion went down in the area after colliding with N'Gotty, but there was little chance that referee Eddie Wolstenholme would penalise the defender.