With a number of their other struggling rivals winning the result was a significant one and the former Aston Villa player claims it has had the necessary effect for a side low on confidence after spending the last few weeks in the bottom three.

"It has been a tough time for us. We have got to believe that we can get points every week now," he said.

"If we can do that and work as hard as we have in the past there's no reason why we can't start pushing up the table."

Bolton's match winner against Mark Hughes' men came from an unlikely source. Ricardo Gardner came off the bench to score the opener and set up the second and Samuel was full of praise for his team-mate.

great ball

He said: "He doesn't get many but I'm sure if he plays regularly in that position up front he will. He was a real threat when he got on and was man of the match with his goal."

It was the Jamaican's first league goal for six years, his last coming against Newcastle United in 2002, and midfielder Kevin Nolan admitted his team-mate may come in for a bit of stick at training.

He said: "It was a great ball across for Ricardo but he did his best to miss it.

"I couldn't believe he tried to shoot from 30 yards earlier. I said to him at the end not to shoot from there again.

"He'll get some stick this week. I'm delighted for him though, because it has been a long time coming. I'm sure he can go on and score a few more this season."