Portsmouth boss John Mousinho admitted he thought Wanderers “probably deserved to win” following the 1-1 draw at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

Abu Kamara gave Pompey an early lead but the Whites hit back through Aaron Collins’ header nine minutes before the break.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Dion Charles both went close in the second half but Bolton couldn’t find a winner.

“It was a fantastic result for us in terms of the league position - keeping Bolton at arm’s length was a really important thing for us to do today,” Mousinho said after the final whistle.

“We obviously came here to try and win the game. Even during the game, we made substitutions to try and win it.

“But I think if you take the context of what the point does for us and probably the balance of the game – I thought Bolton probably deserved to win it – it was a really good point.

“It is a really difficult place to play, Bolton have beaten many sides here and they put five past Reading last week. To have that performance in the second half, I was really pleased.”

Despite taking an early lead, the Pompey boss wasn’t happy with his side’s first-half display but hailed their response after the break.

“I was a bit displeased with how he responded to going a goal up,” he continued. “Seven minutes of really good football, we created a couple of chances and put one in the back of the net.

“Then I thought we made some really poor decisions, slashed at a few clearances and didn’t do enough in terms of tracking runners and staying with Bolton players.

“We regrouped at half time after Bolton’s goal came – which I think they deserved – and it was a much better performance in the second half where we perhaps could have nicked it as well.”

Mousinho opted to make a change at the break, with Tino Anjorin coming off the bench in place of Owen Moxon.

“I thought Maghoma was running the game,” the manager explained. “We have got a really good bench behind us and I thought it needed a change. We weren’t getting on the ball enough either.”