HOT shot hero Bob Taylor paid tribute today to his battling Bolton team-mates who have shown they are prepared to "die for the cause". The striker's injury-time goal secured Wanderers their second away win of the season at Ipswich on Saturday and silenced the critics who had questioned their promotion credentials.

But Taylor insisted it was the players around him who deserved the accolades.

"The lads were dying for each other," he said, praising the defence, which featured a new centre-back pairing of skipper Mark Fish and loan signing Jon Newsome.

"They were throwing themselves in front of shots. Each and every one of the back eight was battling for each other.

"That was the most pleasing aspect of the performance because that's maybe what's been missing from our game in recent weeks. Ipswich have been flying recently but we did something on Saturday that we haven't done for a long time and that's keep a clean sheet."

Taylor enjoyed the change in fortune which brought Wanderers a win which took them back up to 10th in the table, still adrift of the pacemakers but now just four points from the play-off zone and with a new-found confidence. "We've gone away from home in the past and outclassed teams without getting the results," he recalled, "but this time Ipswich were probably unlucky not to get the three points."

Fish believes the result, coming after a run which produced just six points from eight games, has taught Wanderers a valuable lesson as well as boosting morale.

"We've learned that we can go away from home and defend well and sneak results," the captain explained. "The result says everything. We absorbed the pressure, played very well in bits and pieces and got what we wanted.

"Hopefully we can learn from this and, when we go away from home in future, not play the extravagant football we tend to play at home.

"Even though Ipswich were second in the table, we never fear any team we play against. We just went there knowing all we needed was a win that would help us turn the corner. It wasn't just getting the result away from home, keeping a clean sheet was important from a confidence point of view.

"I think we have turned that corner now. If we can keep playing like this we will be back up there where we belong."

Colin Todd's hopes of continuity and consistency look like being hit by suspension and injury in the next fortnight.

Already without goalkeeper Keith Branagan, recovering from a groin operation, and centre-back Andy Todd, who goes into hospital tomorrow for a double hernia operation, the Wanderers boss was waiting today for a fitness report on Gudni Bergsson, who last week underwent minor surgery to clear a niggling groin problem.

On the disciplinary front, Per Frandsen misses tomorrow night's game at Stockport for amassing five bookings, Mark Fish sits out Saturday's Reebok derby against Bury and Mike Whitlow, who is already carrying an ankle injury, is in line to be suspended for the game at Wolves on Saturday week after picking up his eighth booking of the season at Ipswich.

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