With the way Bolton's schedule is shaping up, Gary Megson absolutely had to get that result at Fratton Park. Anything less than three points last week would have been a disaster, regardless of what Megson (or Paul Hart) says.

It may not have been pretty - where have I heard that before? - and they may have profited from a fair bit of luck, but I'm sure Gary would say that he's more concerned with results right now rather than performances. Which is handy, because that was not an impressive performance.

September is going to be all about the results; after Portsmouth (A), Bolton have Stoke (H) and Birmingham (A), which are going to be absolutely vital for Megson. What is certain is that they will not be advertisements for flowing, attractive football.

Results in September are vital, because October looks pretty grim. Spurs (H), Man Utd (A), Everton (H) and Chelsea (H) is going to make it a long, tough month, and right in the middle is Gary Megson's second anniversary as Bolton boss. He may not be the most popular manager, (perfectly and precisely summed up here), but if he has been able to bank some points and a couple of scrappy performances, he should be okay when the big day rolls around. (Remember to circle October 25th on your calendars).

The truth is, when you are at the bottom of the table, most fixtures are going to seem tough. Stoke may be flying high right now and they've been incredible at home since they came up, but they only scored 10 points away from home all last season, so there's an opportunity for a result this weekend.

And just in case Gary Megson happens to be reading this, may I just suggest that Tamir Cohen keeps his place in the side.

Tamir, son of Avi Cohen, was Megson's first signing in the January after he took over, and I have to admit I never really took to him. He was never really impressive when he got on the pitch, and nothing much has changed. He's still pretty poor defensively and on the ball, but he is very good at getting forward.

Since Kevin Nolan left in January, Bolton have struggled to get players into the box, particularly from midfield. While McCann, Muamba, Sean Davis and Mark Davies are probably better players than Cohen, Bolton carry little threat when nobody is getting forward to help out the forwards. Tamir Cohen may not be pretty, but he can be effective.