Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Brentford

Neil Danns' equaliser for Bolton was his second goal of the season

Neil Danns scored a second-half equaliser as the Championship's bottom side Bolton Wanderers fought back to earn a draw with Brentford.

The Bees, watched by new head coach Dean Smith, took an early lead when John Swift curled in from 20 yards.

Home keeper Ben Amos saved from Lasse Vibe and Swift to prevent Brentford extending their lead.

And Bolton, whose players have not been paid this month, earned a point when Danns' shot bounced in off the post.

The draw was Bolton's seventh in nine home games this season, and they remain three points adrift at the bottom of the table after extending their run without a win to 12 matches.

It could have been worse for Neil Lennon's side as Brentford, with interim manager Lee Carsley in charge for the final time, had enough chances to have had the game won by the break.

Dean Smith joins Brentford after almost five years in charge of Walsall

Swift gave the Bees the perfect start by ending a fine passing move with a curled finish past Amos, who then saved brilliantly from Vibe when one-on-one before tipping Swift's left-foot volley over the bar.

Brentford captain Jake Bidwell then headed wide before Danns drove in the equaliser from 20 yards after Ryan Woods only partially cleared Liam Feeney's cross.

Visiting keeper David Button immediately saved Shola Ameobi's close-range shot to deny Bolton a second.

But it was Brentford who went closest to grabbing a late winner when Amos tipped Vibe's shot wide and substitute Konstantin Kerschbaumer sliced a shot off target.

Bolton boss Neil Lennon told BBC Radio 5 live:

"We know we lack a little bit of quality in certain areas so to go a goal down, the reaction was excellent.

"Ben Amos has shown his quality tonight, we're very pleased with him and he will improve as he's a young goalkeeper."

On the squad not being paid: "We spoke to the squad about the situation today and they will be a meeting tomorrow with Trevor Birch and a representative from the PFA.

"Hopefully that will clarify the situation for the players. We're pretty confident money will come in and they will get paid."

Brentford interim manager Lee Carsley told BBC Radio London:

"I'll be helping Dean Smith settle in and give him a better understanding of what the players' strengths and weaknesses are, and make the transition as smooth as we can.

"Hopefully we'll make it an easier process with the fact that the team is doing a bit better now than it was.

"I think Bolton's biggest strength was set-pieces and with the size of our team and the type of players in our team, we were always going to struggle with that. I felt that was the only way they were going to cause us problems.

"I felt going forwards tonight, that was as good as I've seen us. Lasse Vibe was a real threat and it was brilliant seeing John Swift in that form."