Bolton boss Dougie Freedman was happy with how his side performed in Wednesday night's narrow loss to Chelsea.
The Championship club took it right up to the Premier League giants in the third round of the Capital One Cup at Stamford Bridge and could have sent the contest into extra-time late in their eventual 2-1 defeat.
Kurt Zouma scored first for Jose Mourinho's side before Matt Mills equalised for Bolton just after the half-hour mark but Oscar's 25-yard strike ten minutes into the second half was enough to send the Blues through to the fourth round.
But Freedman was not too perturbed by his Bolton side's efforts against a quality outfit, especially after winning just once in eight league attempts this season.
"I felt when I saw the team-sheet that I knew their manager treated this competition with respect and the opposition with respect. They were taking it very seriously," said Freedman.
"We were going to have to ride our luck a little bit tonight. Our goalkeeper was fantastic. They hit the bar. We had a plan and the plan was to get into the second half still in the game.
"That's what happened. In the last 10, 15 minutes we gave it a right good go, played a bit more expansive.
"A little bit more quality would have taken it to extra-time.
"Overall I think we gave a good performance and our fans were excellent. We showed that commitment for them."
Bolton, who sit 21st on the second tier table, will now prepare for Saturday's home meeting with ninth-placed Derby County.
