Gary Megson admits his Bolton side may sometimes lack quality - but believes they have plenty other virtues to save their Barclays Premier League status.

After a run of eight games without victory, Bolton secured their second battling win in succession courtesy of a second-half Gavin McCann strike at Middlesbrough.

It was enough to lift them out of the relegation zone with 32 points but, with three games still to go, Megson knows they are far from safe yet.

"I have never once had to criticise or question integrity, honesty, workrate or the way they go about their work," Megson said.

"We can play better, pass it better, finish better - all those quality things.

"But we were in the bottom three, in a perilous position, and it is difficult. So, you need the other qualities we have certainly got.

"You look at the finish we have got; away at Tottenham and Chelsea and home to Sunderland.

"We have given ourselves an opportunity now that didn't exist two weeks ago, but that's all it is.

"If we stay on the amount of points we have got now we won't stay up so we have got to keep going.

"But we have got it in our own hands now, where we didn't two weeks ago."

Bolton's victory seemed far from likely during a breathless opening 10 minutes when their goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi was the busiest man at the Riverside Stadium.

The Oman international, deputising for the injured Jussi Jaaskelainen, saved brilliantly from David Wheater, Tuncay Sanli and Afonso Alves before the visitors had enjoyed any decent possession.

They eventually settled into the game and then stepped up the pressure early in the second half.

Grzegorz Rasiak and Matt Taylor both hit the woodwork and Danny Guthrie had a lob cleared off the line before Gary Cahill headed at goalkeeper Ross Turnbull and McCann volleyed in the rebound.

McCann's 60th-minute strike came just minutes after he had escaped a penalty claim against him for handball.

Megson added: "Once the half-time break came about, we were probably fortunate to be going in at 0-0 but I thought the second half was the opposite.

"I thought that could be our most vital 45 minutes of the season. We wouldn't have a better chance because we'd got away with it, to be honest.

"They took it on board, started exceptionally well and got on the front foot. We looked a yard quicker and much more precise.

"Gavin McCann has been upset he has not always been in the team but he played exceptionally well and I'm glad he got the goal for us."

Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate called on his players to display similar fighting qualities before booking their summer holidays.

Boro are not assumed to be in the relegation fight with the likes of Bolton, Reading and Birmingham but Southgate is well aware his side are not mathematically safe yet.

"We are not naive enough to think 36 points will keep us in the division," said Southgate, whose side have games against Sunderland, Portsmouth and Manchester City to come.

"There is still a lot of work to be done.

"We had an opportunity to wrap it up from that side of things and we haven't taken that.

"It was a big disappointment for us. The way we started we should have gone on and won it but we haven't, so we've got to go the extra yards in the next few weeks.

"However long it takes, we have to go that distance. Having been here as long as I have I should know that the opportunity to have three weeks of enjoyment was too much to ask for.

"We have to roll up the sleeves and dig into the well again, but we have got the character and the resilience to do that."

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