Megson hails Bolton showing

Megson: Delighted with performance

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Bolton manager Gary Megson was delighted with his side's showing after their 3-1 win at West Ham.

The Trotters recorded their first away win of the campaign with a deserved victory at Upton Park.

Megson hailed his side's showing as they restricted West Ham to few chances at Upton Park and won the game thanks to goals from Kevin Davies, Gary Cahill and substitute Matt Taylor.

"It was a great result for us, as was the manner in which it came for us," enthused Megson.

"However, we did not really have to deal with too many clear-cut chances.

"We wanted to make ourselves solid, and knew West Ham would have a lot of possession - but most of that was going square or backwards. It did not really cause us any problems - Jussi only had some long-range shots to deal with.

"Although they had more possession than us in the first half, it was us who scored the two goals."

The victory was Bolton's first on their road since last April and Megson knows their record away from home will be crucial to their survival chances.

"The football club have not won away games on a consistent basis," added Megson.

"That is something like only our fifth win in the last 22 months.

"If you are doing that, it is going to cause you massive problems, because then you have to be successful at home.

"We just managed to stay up last year, yet our home record was only six points different from when we had qualified for Europe.

"Our away record has been shocking and it is something we need to improve on."

Megson was happy Taylor had silenced some of the crowd with his strike, the former Portsmouth winger having come in for unnecessary jeers by a section of the home crowd.

"I don't know why he was getting all that stick when he came on, but it was nice for him to keep people quiet," noted Megson.

"He has got a great strike and you do fancy him to score from distance."