Dean Holdsworth struck to earn Bolton a draw against Tottenham and inch them closer to safety in the Premiership.

Steffen Iversen's first-half goal had looked enough to give Tottenham a fourth victory over Bolton this season.

But following Wanderers' elimination from two cup competitions at the hands of Spurs, the hosts were determined to stop the rot.

They were also desperate for points to guarantee top-flight football next term.

Sam Allardyce's side struggled to find their rhythm against Spurs, but a dogged display earned them a point.

Bolton had been in excellent form, winning three of their last four matches, but Spurs were the more creative team.

The visitors' opener was perhaps fortunate not to be ruled out for offside.

Gus Poyet's through ball was collected by Iversen, who looked to be beyond the Bolton defence, and he rounded Jussi Jaaskelainen to slot home after only eight minutes.

Certainly the home fans felt the goal should not have stood.

Loud, ironic cheers and a standing ovation greeted the first offside decision given against Spurs.

The home side's frustration showed soon after when Mike Whitlow picked up a yellow card for a challenge on Iversen.

And at times the match threatened to get nasty as tackles went flying in.

Tim Sherwood was lucky to escape a caution for a blatant body check on Youri Djorkaeff.

But any controversy over the goal would have forgotten had Simon Davies and substitute Sergei Rebrov done better with good opportunities. It was the story of the match as Bolton scrapped and battled, while occasional moments of inspiration from Spurs led to scoring chances.

As the visitors continued to spurn opportunities to increase their lead, Bolton refused to accept defeat.

And they drew level mid-way through the second half when Holdsworth took advantage of Ben Thatcher's poor back pass to clip the ball home.

Until that point Bolton had looked short of ideas up front with Anthony Gardner playing well at the back for Tottenham.

But once parity had been restored, Bolton began to push for the three points.

And French striker Djorkaeff nearly snatched victory with a curling free-kick that struck the crossbar.