Wednesday 20 January 2016 08:16, UK
Neil Lennon was pleased with his Bolton side's reaction after a "real wake-up call" in their FA Cup third-round replay against Eastleigh.
The non-league side had led through Joe Partington's early goal and even after Gary Madine and Dean Moxey had put Bolton in front, Kaid Mohamed sent them into the interval on level terms.
Yet just one day after Wanderers were given a five-week extension in the high court relating to a winding-up order, Darren Pratley stepped up to seal a 3-2 win and prevent further embarrassment.
And the revenue that will now be created by a fourth-round contest with Leeds will be valuable too as Bolton try to raise funds ahead of their adjourned court hearing in five weeks' time.
"We were a bit pedestrian first 10-15 minutes and got a wake-up call for that but our reaction was good," Lennon said.
"They are not easy, these games. I am absolutely thrilled we are into the next round. The players showed tremendous character and I thought we played really well second half and scored a brilliant third goal. We saw the game out comfortably in the end.
"We could have won it by more with better finishing but psychologically it should give the players a lift going into the game at the weekend."
Despite the result, Eastleigh manager Chris Todd was heartened by words of encouragement from a man he used to watch on TV.
Pratley's winning strike was teed up by ex-Newcastle forward Shola Ameobi and it was the 34-year-old's post-match support that delighted Eastleigh's boss.
Todd revealed: "He came up to me and said: 'You have got one great team on you'.
"That means a lot, I used to watch him on Match of the Day and I have a lot of respect for him. When people are saying that to you, it means a lot.
"We are a National League side. A lot of my players have shown their capabilities, we came here and played some great football.
"I think people are a little bit shocked that we did that but there are good players in the National League. There are players that are stuck there and don't get a chance. There's good talent and that's been shown."
