Owen Hargreaves made his first start for over two years in Manchester United’s 2-1 victory over Wolves on Saturday but he lasted just a few minutes before injury forced him off the field again (United 7/2 to win the Premier League) and boss Sir Alex Ferguson has admitted it was a mistake to play the midfielder in the game.

A bewildered Ferguson has revealed it is a hamstring problem that has affected the midfield star this time, rather than a recurrence of the long-standing knee injury that has sidelined him for the best part of two years.

“We thought by doing that it would give us a compact midfield with experience. But he only lasted five minutes. It was a disaster,” revealed the Old Trafford chief. “He has hurt his hamstring, which is unbelievable.”

United left it late yesterday, with Ji-Sung Park scoring the winner in stoppage time, as they keep the pressure on league-leaders Chelsea, who visit Liverpool on Sunday.

The shock result of the day perhaps came at the Reebok Stadium as Bolton Wanderers secured an impressive 4-2 victory over Tottenham.

Spurs went into the game on the back of a famous European victory over Champions League holders Inter Milan but they struggled to cope with a compact and determined Bolton side.

Kevin Davies opened the scoring for the hosts, before Gretar Steinsson and a Davies penalty appeared to put the Wanderers out of sight.  Spurs did hit back through Alan Hutton and Roman Pavlyuchenko to set Bolton’s nerves jangling but Martin Petrov added a fourth to ensure the home side secured all three points.

Wanderers boss Owen Coyle was understandably delighted with the result and believes Bolton are heading in the “right direction.”

“I like to think we are improving. Hopefully we are moving in the right direction. It is very much a work in progress,” Coyle said.

“The players are showing a lot of quality, and I thought it was an outstanding performance today.”

Bolton have been beaten just twice this season and look a strong and well organised unit, with players such as Chung-Yong Lee, Stuart Holden and Petrov providing pace and skill.  The Wanderers are a very attractive 20/1 to secure a top-six finish, they are currently fifth in the league, and although very much an outside bet it is not out of the question that Coyle could lead them into Europe this season.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp turned his attentions to Gareth Bale and defended the midfielder’s performance against Bolton.  The Welsh wizard produced some glimpses of magic at the Reebok but failed to make the same impact he did against Inter Milan in midweek.

Bale is without question one of Spurs’ best players but Redknapp is eager to ensure the youngster is not put under too much pressure after he praised the youngster despite the defeat at Bolton.

“There was nothing wrong with Gareth today. He was probably my best player,” said Redknapp.

“He had some fantastic runs and crossed a couple of great balls. If people had got on the end of them he could have made two or three goals.”

Spurs are pushing for fourth spot but could fall further behind the pack if Manchester City end their losing streak and secure a victory at West Brom (Match Betting – West Brom 9/4, draw 12/5, City 23/20).

However, with players such as Luka Modric, Rafael van der Vaart and Bale amongst their ranks it would be foolish to count Spurs out at this stage (Spurs 3/1 to finish in the top four).

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