Neil Lennon hailed keeper Andy Lonergan for the “world-class” save which kept Huddersfield Town at bay and enabled his Bolton Wanderers side to go on and win the Roses showdown.
The former Preston stopper pulled off a point-blank stop to thwart Jacob Butterfield as Chris Powell’s visitors started the second half strongly.
And Lennon, a contender for the Town job which eventually went to Powell in September, admitted: “We had to rely on the keeper.
“He made what was a world-class save and it was an important moment in the game.
“It looked a goal to me but Andy’s reaction was brilliant.
“Sometimes keepers get overlooked, but not by me, and I congratulated him after the game.
“When you’re trying to win things and be consistent you need goalies to make big saves at big moments.
“All good teams have good goalkeepers and Andy has been very good since I came in.”
It was his fifth goal of the season and third since Lennon’s arrival.
“Craig was sloppy in the first half at times, but in the second half he was excellent,” added Lennon.
“We’ve given him the opportunity to lead the line and we feel he can improve further.
“It was a hard-fought win, and we need to start games better.
“We improved in the second half, and once we got the goal, I thought we looked good.”
