EIGHT successive defeats might lead some people to think Bolton Wanderers have a psychological block when they come up against Liverpool.

I don’t see it that way at all, especially after Owen Coyle’s side were more than just a match for the Anfield men on Sunday until Maxi Rodriguez snatched victory four minutes from time.

When a team scores so late there is no coming back but, for my money, we could have had the points in the bag by then.

I don’t like harping on about referees but we had two decent penalty appeals turned down: the first, when Jame Carragher handled Matty Taylor’s cross, was blatant and the more I look at the way Kevin Davies was barged over, the more I’m convinced we were victims of a double injustice. I’ve seen penalties given for much less.

Even so, I felt we did enough to have won it.

We matched them for 86 minutes and some of the football we played, in the first half in particular, was exceptional.

And on any other day, that header of Kevin Davies’s that just sneaked past the post would have gone in.

That just about sums up the new-look Bolton Wanderers. They are still playing to their strengths but they are also showing they have a few more strings to their bow.

People are quite rightly sitting up and taking notice that they are a good footballing side and not just the long-ball team they have been criticised for being in the past.

Personally, I always expected it to go that way after Owen Coyle was appointed in January. It was never going to happen overnight and it was never going to be a complete revolution.

Owen wouldn’t want it that way. But what he has developed is a team that wants to get the ball down and pass but which is also willing and able to battle when it’s called for. We saw that on Sunday in a good all-round performance which got the fans behind them from start to finish. The Liverpool support was pretty quiet and that tells you a lot.

The result was obviously a real sickener but it shouldn’t have a lasting effect. I see no reason to dwell on it and I expect them to pick themselves up for the Tottenham game on Saturday.

I WAS privileged to be on the pitch doing the half-time draw with Frank Worthington on Sunday.

Worthy was delighted with the reception he got from the Reebok fans but he is a true Bolton legend.

We enjoyed a laugh and a joke, as you can imagine, with Worthy marvelling at the condition of the pitch and comparing it to the poor surfaces we had to play on. Just imagine how much better a Worthington in his prime would have been if he had had a pitch like the Reebok to play on. The mind boggles.

On the subject of the good old days, I’d like to send best wishes to Frank Partington, the proprietor of the famous Burnden pie shop, who is struggling a bit with his health.

Frank’s pie shop was one that I am ashamed to admit I frequented more than anyone when I was playing at Bolton in the 1990s, but I did have my reasons – they really were the best pies around.

There are many of us here at the club who remember the pie shop with great affection and I’m sure I speak for everyone when I wish Frank a speedy recovery.

KEVIN Nolan joined the ranks of the Tyneside legends on Sunday when he scored that superb hat-trick in Newcastle’s 5-1 demoltion of Sunderland – and I was chuffed to bits for him.

I was close to Kevin when he was here at Bolton as captain – just as I am close to Kevin Davies these days – and I’m not in the least bit surprised to see him doing well up there at St James’s Park.

He’s a top player and a top bloke – one of the best goalscoring midfield players in the Premiership.

I’m a big fan of Nobby and I always will be, just as long as he doesn’t score against us when Newcastle come to the Reebok later this month.