Chelsea have had a bad week off the pitch, but a gutsy performance here saw them earn a good away point at Bolton and nearly claim all three.

Their reward would have been even greater had it not been for Bolton's refusal to lie down, with the home side finally securing an equaliser through Kevin Nolan.

It was only right that honours should have ended even, because when Mikael Forssell grabbed the lead for the second time - Bolton old boy Eidur Gudjohnsen had opened the scoring - it looked as though Michael Ricketts' second-half strike would be meaningless.

Wanderers pressed hard, though, and Nolan's goal made it three draws in a row.

Chelsea have been in the headlines over the last week, though not for any of the reasons they would have wanted.

First there was the incident in a nightclub which left John Terry and Jody Morris both facing assault and affray charges. Then came crowd trouble at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night which saw missiles thrown at players and a fan stabbed outside the ground.

Those are weighty distractions indeed, but Chelsea managed to shrug them off. Terry and Morris were in the starting line-up and both played key roles for a team without injured leading scorer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

There was a worrying moment in the opening stages for Chelsea when Djibril Diawara headed on a long throw, and Ricketts was only inches from connecting.

If that was a fright there was sheer terror for Bolton after 16 minutes when Jussi Jaaskelainen flapped at Morris' cross and the ball fell to Frank Lampard just next to the penalty spot.

He seemed to hesitate a fraction of a second, and when he did strike a strong shot Jaaskelainen had closed the gap and pulled off an excellent save.

Gianfranco Zola, his touch looking as good as ever, swivelled and clipped a tempting pass towards Gudjohnsen. The ball had just enough pace to beat Gudni Bergsson's attempted interception, but when it dropped the Icelandic striker sliced his volley wide.

The game began to open up, and when Frank Lampard went down in the Bolton area challenging for Gudjohnsen's chipped pass the home fans' hearts were in mouths. But referee Jeff Winter, who was close to the incident, waved away appeals for a spot-kick.

Bolton have a policy of packing the opposition's six-yard box for free-kicks and corners, and when Per Frandsen swung a ball into the danger area Bruno N'Gotty connected but just poked the ball a foot past the post.

The Reebok crowd were on their feet after 52 minutes when Henrik Pedersen, the striker who had done virtually nothing in the first half, was clean through on the goalkeeper.

But his shot was sliced so horribly wide it fooled the referee into awarding a corner.

That miss proved costly. Mario Stanic angled in a ball from the right wing; N'Gotty failed to intercept, and Gudjohnsen struck a sweet shot in off the far post to put Chelsea ahead.

The goal served only to fire Bolton up, and Pedersen had a shot cleared off the line by Terry. Chelsea could not clear their lines completely, though, and when the ball broke to Ricketts from a scramble on the edge of the box he kept his head and equalised.

It was the coolest of finishes, ignoring Marcel Desailly's desperate lunge, slipping the ball past Carlo Cudicini and then steering it into the net.

'Ricketts for England' sang the Bolton fans. With 14 goals already this season - and 12 in the Barclaycard Premiership - why not?

Claudio Ranieri then played his master-stroke, replacing Zola with Forssell, and the substitute made it 2-1 with his first touch.

Graeme Le Saux hit a low ball from the left; Morris ran over it, and Forssell struck a left-footed shot which sneaked past Jaaskelainen for his first league goal this season.

Lampard should have done better when he pulled a shot wide.

But Bolton's equaliser came with 11 minutes remaining.

A long ball into the Chelsea area was headed out by Terry to the feet of Nolan. No one closed the midfielder down, however, and he had time to pick his spot and shoot low into the corner.

There was last-minute panic in Bolton's box after an incredible goalmouth scramble saw Terry's shot cleared off the line by Simon Charlton and Desailly's header narrow miss the target - but defeat would have been unfair on Wanderers.

Teams

Bolton: Jaaskelainen, Diawara, Bergsson, N'Gotty (Barness 78), Charlton, Southall, Frandsen (Gardner 72), Farrelly, Nolan, Ricketts, Pedersen (Bobic 57).

Subs Not Used: Poole, Johnson.

Goals: Ricketts 56, Nolan 79.

Chelsea: Cudicini, Melchiot, Terry, Desailly, Le Saux, Lampard, Morris (Jokanovic 76), Dalla Bona, Stanic, Zola (Forssell 65), Gudjohnsen.

Subs Not Used: de Goey, Ferrer, Keenan.

Booked: Stanic.

Goals: Gudjohnsen 53, Forssell 65.

Att: 23,891

Ref: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees).