Although neither of them hit the target on Saturday, Mick McCarthy was more than pleased with the efforts of his two main strikers.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Kevin Doyle led the line against Bolton and the boss reckons the partnership is getting stronger despite a lack of chances.

He said: "I thought they were great last weekend, they did far better.

"Neither of them really had any chances, but I thought they both worked their socks off and they make us a better team when they're like that.

"Partnerships don't just happen - they have to work at it - but they made it work on Saturday far better than they have done.

"Sylvan still hasn't really had any chances but he and Kevin really battled away on Saturday and they provided us with a real base that we could play off far, far better.

"If they play like that and we get chances because of it then fine. It doesn't matter who's scoring the goals, as long as someone is.

"I was delighted with Sylvan on Saturday because it was definitely better from him.

"I thought he put a shift in - he might not have got his chances but he just kept grafting, and that's what I want."