FORMER Bury striker David Nugent denied Bolton a badly needed away win in this first top flight Lancashire derby since 1964.

And the on loan Portsmouth striker came close to giving Owen Coyle’s Burnley all three points with a late miss.

However, Gary Megson’s side hung on to stretch their unbeaten run to three games going into Tuesday’s crunch relegation match with Hull City at the Reebok.

Indeed, it had looked promising in the first half as Matt Taylor curled in a trademark free kick for his fourth goal of the campaign after 29 minutes.

Megson believes Taylor went a long way to answering his critics with his wonder strike. It was only his fourth goal of the season after he managed 10 in the last campaign.

Megson said: “Taylor bases his game on goals and his ratio of games to goals so far has not been as good as it was last year but he is capable of doing that.

“I was really pleased for him because he has taken criticism this season but he is still brave enough to take that. It was a fantastic strike.”

Megson, however, was disappointed at the way Burnley’s goal had come about.

He said: “It was sloppy. The ball wasn’t whipped in, it wasn’t driven in.

Megson view

“It was well taken by Nugent but from our point of view it was lax and I would expect us to deal with it better.

“There isn’t one particular reason why we are not defending so well. The defending has to start from the front as much as your forward play starts at the back. Everyone has to do their job.”

Taylor also grazed the post after 51 minutes with the score still at 1-0.

It proved a pivotal moment as Burnley refused to give up on a ground where they have lost just once this season.

And from Wade Elliott’s cross, man of the match Nugent got between Gary Cahill and Gretar Steinsson to head home his first goal since mid September.

Nugent’s third goal of his Burnley career also established an unwanted club record for the Trotters.

By conceding the equaliser, the Trotters ensured their longest top flight run without a clean sheet for 82 years.

Wanderers are now just one clean sheer behind Leicester City who hold the longest run of 18 games.

On loan Nugent tormented the visitors’ defence, particularly Cahill who didn’t enjoy his return to a club where he launched his career five years ago.

It could have been worse for Wanderers as ex-United youngster Chris Eagles and then Nugent had shots saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen.

And it became apparent Megson had settled for a point with his first substitution of the game.

Joint top scorer Ivan Klasnic only had one opportunity to add to his tally and it was hardly surprising when he came off after 67 minutes.

However, Megson opted to pack his midfield with Mark Davies instead of a straight swop with striker Johan Elmander.

And that was the cue for ‘Megson out’ chants from the 2,400 Wanderers supporters.

Fortunately, there was no further damage for Bolton who went close to a winner themselves through substitute Davies.

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