Player Ratings: Fulham 1-1 Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers worked hard only to see a 94th minute equaliser deny them a first away victory of the season at Fulham yesterday.

Here are our ratings for the 14 players that went so close to securing all three points.

GK; Ben Alnwick - 8: This performance showed why he’s our number one goalkeeper. Alnwick pulled off a couple of top saves to deny the endless wave of Fulham attacks, including a great one-on-one save to his left from substitute Neeskens Kebano. He also chipped in by assisting Ameobi’s goal, albeit with a monumental boot downfield. He made one mistake all match that I can remember - a poor clearance straight to a Fulham midfielder - but other than that he was impressive.

RB; Mark Little - 6: Struggled up against the impressive young left-back Ryan Sessegnon and the lively Floyd Ayite, but did well considering he got minimal support from either of the wingers that played in front of them. Made a couple of vital tackles to prevent Fulham chances, but Phil Parkinson needs to look at how we can prevent teams from walking through our full-backs with the ease that Fulham did.

CB; David Wheater - 8: A typically solid performance from the big centre-half, including a couple of vital blocks and interceptions to frustrate the Fulham onslaught. Got booked for a hilariously awful lunge on Abdoulaye Kamara - who probably deserved a kick for feigning injury at every possible opportunity.

CB; Mark Beevers - 7: Like Wheater, another solid performance from his partner in crime. He had a battle on his hands dealing with the threat coming down the Fulham right and, more often that not, won it.

LB; Andrew Taylor - 5: Really struggled against the energetic right-back Ryan Fredericks, who seemed to get past Taylor at will. Was substituted early in the second half after mysteriously going down injured completely off the ball seconds after kick-off.

CM; Karl Henry - 7: We look so much better in midfield now that Henry has come in. While he may not offer us creative brilliance from the middle of the park, he is an absolute terrier and never stops working, which in turn seems to inspire the efforts of his teammates. Was booked early on, I think unfairly, for a nothing challenge only to see the referee fail to book several Fulham players for similar, if not worse, tackles, and was lucky not to be carded for a second time after pulling back a Fulham player to prevent a counter attack. Also a moment of amusement in the first half by encouraging the Fulham physio on the pitch to tend to the serial injury feigning Kamara.

CM; Darren Pratley - 6: Worked hard and played his part in repelling the Fulham pressure, but he could have gotten closer to McDonald on the goal? It’s fair enough to play him alongside Henry in away games, but we really need someone in midfield who can get on the ball and, more importantly, help us keep the ball.

RW; Sammy Ameobi - 8: Big Sammy took his goal beautifully, with a really composed finish after everyone else on the pitch, and off it, had switched off after Ben Alnwick’s long clearance. He was our out-ball when we weren’t booting long balls downfield and looked like the one player that would carry a threat and a bit of unpredictability to the Fulham defence.

AM; Josh Vela - 6: Vela worked tirelessly, harassing the Fulham defenders and forcing them into mistakes, which should have led to a goal as his pressure saw David Button misplace a clearance. He struggled to get into the game from an attacking perspective, mainly as we struggled to pass the ball, but worked hard for the team.

LW; Adam Armstrong - 5: For me, the jury is still out on Armstrong. He has plenty of promise, but he’s just not delivering on it. At Championship level, and especially in the position we find ourselves, not finishing opportunities like the 30-yard open goal offered to him by Button, is unacceptable and ultimately cost us. He did well cutting in from his wing a few times, only to fire shots high and wide, so he needs to improve his finishing when rare opportunities come along.

CF; Gary Madine - 7: Yet another tireless effort from Madine in what was an absolutely thankless task. Looking at his goalscoring record doesn't tell the whole story, which is that he’s feeding off scraps in his lone striker role - I think he only had one chance all match yesterday. His cause wasn’t helped by some abject refereeing that saw a goalscoring opportunity from a Madine flick-on unbelievably denied for a ‘foul’ on a defender, when the Fulham defenders had been smashing into him at every opportunity without giving away free-kicks.

Substitutes:

Antonee Robinson (on for Taylor, 49) - 6: Did a decent job up against the never-ending Fulham attack, including a few good tackles on the marauding Fredericks. Needs to show a bit more composure in attack, there was a chance to run at his defender and get clean through on goal and he instead chose to pass to a player in a less threatening position.

Filipe Morais (on for Ameobi, 68) - 4: I suspect he was brought on to offer Little greater assistance with the threat of Floyd Ayite and Ryan Sessegnon from the Fulham left, but he didn’t really. Missed a great opportunity to put Armstrong clean through on goal and generally looked out of his depth.

Adam Le Fondre (on for Vela, 82): - 6: Came on, in Parky’s words, to “get us up the pitch and score a goal.” He very nearly did with an attempted chip, and looked bright despite having very little time to make an impact. Can Parky find a space in the team to get ALF starting?