Owen Coyle, the Bolton Wanderers manager felt a point was the least his 10-man side deserved for their spirited comeback to draw 2-2 against Birmingham City. Bolton overcame the sending off of Jussi Jaaskelainen, their goalkeeper, to recover from two down to level things. Coyle said: "At 2-0 down you think it is one of those days but I have always stressed I am trying to foster and build a spirit here. Hopefully that was evident for everybody. I think we carried the fight.
"I think anybody at that game would have struggled to recognise it was 11 v 10 as we were the team pushing on. We were certainly deserving of a point, minimum." Bolton fell behind after just four minutes as Birmingham pieced together a slick move which Roger Johnson finished from six yards. Johnson was then involved in Jaaskelainen's dismissal after knocking the keeper to the ground in a challenge for the ball.
The defender was slapped in the face by Jaaskelainen and Kevin Friend, the referee, had no option but to show red. Birmingham appeared to take a decisive grip as Craig Gardner grabbed a second but Johnson's eventful afternoon continued as he fouled Kevin Davies in the box. The Bolton skipper stepped up to convert from the penalty spot and Robbie Blake curled in a brilliant free-kick to equalise nine minutes from time.
Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, was disappointed with the penalty and the free-kick from which Blake scored. He said: "It feels like a defeat but in the grand scheme of things we believe it could be a good point." * Press Association