It says much about the levelling of standards in the Premier League that Fulham’s first away win of the season makes qualifying for the Uefa Cup a realistic possibility. With nine games remaining, they have already exceeded the points total that kept them up last season, and for all that their manager, Roy Hodgson, continues to preach caution, they have surely done enough to start looking up, not down.

The opening 20 minutes or so were painful to behold. Neither side appeared willing to commit themselves and a general lack of confidence meant that mistakes were plentiful. John Pantsil’s wild volley after 13 minutes was the only attempt on goal before Bolton should have gone ahead shortly before the half-hour. How they didn’t, after Mark Schwarzer made a horrible mess of dealing with Johan Elmander’s free kick, is a mystery. The Fulham goalkeeper fumbled the ball back into his six-yard box, only for Gary Cahill, twice, and Gavin McCann to fail to send it into the empty net.

Fulham’s Bobby Zamora was almost equally culpable soon afterwards. Paul Konchesky’s cross should have been headed clear by McCann, but the midfielder allowed the ball to travel through to Zamora, whose shot was too close to Jussi Jaaskelaianen.

The goal with which Fulham took the lead was very much in keeping with the general standard of play. Andy O’Brien had every opportunity to clear when he got to Simon Davies’ attempted through-ball ahead of Andy Johnson, but indecision and a heavy touch resulted in him pushing the ball past the stranded Jaaskelainen. Johnson outpaced him to slide the ball into the empty goal.

Just as the crowd began to make their feelings plain, Bolton equalised. Kevin Davies chested the ball down to Mark Davies and found enough space to pick up the midfielder’s return pass before driving the ball firmly past Schwarzer’s right hand.

Had Schwarzer not managed to bundle Elmander’s volley just past the post at the start of the second half Bolton might have gained sufficient confidence to secure a fourth successive win at home. As it was, the momentum shifted back to the away side, and once again, it was the unfortunate O’Brien who was at fault when Johnson was allowed to break clear down the left. The striker lost control but Danny Murphy picked up possession and, when his close-range shot came back off the bar, Simon Davies was on hand to drive the ball back through the crowd and over the line.

Now Fulham really did start to play well. Murphy, whom Bolton manager Gary Megson said afterwards is playing the best football of his career, ensured they retained more than enough possession to frustrate Bolton, and it was no real surprise when another Bolton mistake, this time by McCann, resulted in substitute Diomansy Kamara making the game safe shortly before the final whistle.

“It’s not been a mental block away from home, because we’ve not been playing badly,” said Hodgson. “I don’t think 37 points will be enough to stay up, though, I get the feeling we’ll need more, but on the basis of performances like that, I fully believe we will get them.”

“You can’t defend like that at any level, let alone this one,” said Megson. “Individually we’ve made three really poor errors, but there were others we got away with.”

Star man: Andy Johnson (Fulham)

Referee: C Foy

Attendance: 22,117

Bolton: Jaaskelainen 6, Steinsson 6, Cahill 6, O'Brien 4, Samuel 5 (Riga 74min), Taylor 5, McCann 4, M Davies 6 (Muamba 68min), Gardner 5, K Davies 6, Elmander 5

Fulham: Schwarzer 4, Pantsil 5, Hangeland 6, Hughes 6, Konchesky 5, Davies 5, Etuhu 6, Murphy 7, Dempsey 6, Johnson 8 (Nevland 90min), Zamora 4 (Kamara 84min).