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Sven thinks Whites can stay up

SVEN-Goran Eriksson reckons Wanderers have what it takes to win their battle with relegation and stay in the Premier League.

The Manchester City manager believes Wanderers will pick up enough points between now and the end of the season because they are so hard to play against. Eriksson pointed to the physical nature of Gary Megson's side - despite the fact that the visitors committed five more fouls than their hosts in the match.

"I think Bolton have a chance of staying up," said the former England manager. "It is always difficult to play against them because of the way they play.

"This is not a critique. They have the players to play like they do and it is always difficult to stand up to them. They are very aggressive and don't allow you to play.

"I saw them against Manchester United last Wednesday and I think they were unlucky to lose. They conceded from two set-pieces but, for the rest of the game, United struggled to break them down."

City were hoping to come away from the Reebok with all three points to boost their chances of qualifying for the UEFA Cup next season, but Eriksson was happy with a point.It means City, who are in pole position to qualify for Europe through the Fair Play League, lie one point off sixth-placed Portsmouth in ninth.

"We wanted three points, but a draw is a fair result," said Eriksson. "They created some chances, and we created some chances.

"This point might be important at the end of the season. Villa and Portsmouth lost this weekend, so you never know.

"I am happy with how we defended. I think we stood up to them very well. That is not easy because they throw in a lot of long balls, are physically strong and have a lot of set-pieces, corners and throw-ins. But I think we handled that very well.

"We hit too many long balls ourselves and in the future we have to play make sure we play more football."

Eriksson was also sure that referee Andre Marriner made the correct decision when he only booked Wanderers skipper Kevin Nolan for a rash challenge on Vedran Corluka in the first-half.

"I saw it again and the referee made the correct decision - it wasn't a red card," said Eriksson.

"I also think there was nothing in the challenge when Ricardo Gardner got injured.

"He hurt himself. It was not a foul."

9:52pm Sunday 23rd March 2008

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