There was always a danger of this match being a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ for Tottenham Hotspur, with Harry Redknapp’s team having produced a brilliant attacking performance to beat Inter Milan on Tuesday.

The Spurs manager decided to make some changes in the midfield area, with Wilson Palacios, Niko Kranjcar and Sandro all starting the match and it was the latter who was at fault for Bolton’s opener which allowed Kevin Davies to fire home.

Redknapp was clearly unhappy with his team’s defending, claiming this was the reason for the defeat.

He told Sky Sports: “It is obviously disappointing. They got after us, they did well. They worked hard, pressed us, didn’t let us play. It was difficult.

“Away from home we start the game trying to be solid in the first half, and we had some good opportunities.

Tottenham showed plenty of character to battle back from three goals down to make the scoreline 3-2 and William Gallas was forced into a makeshift striker position, although this allowed Martin Petrov to burst forward at the death and add some gloss to the Bolton scoreline.

Wanderers have leapfrogged Spurs in the Premier League as a result.