El-Hadji Diouf scored his first goal of the season in the 65th minute after stepping off the bench and that should have been good enough to dismantle their moderate opponents.

However the visitors battled back and secured a point four minutes from time.

Megson, who will be officially in charge from tomorrow, may have been pleased at the team’s spirited performance but would have been unhappy at their inability to hold on to a lead.

He takes charge for the first time on Sunday when they face Aston Villa and his appointment after a six-week stint at Leicester is being questioned by some Bolton supporters.

They are concerned about his track record and there were chants of ’Sack the board’ and ’You don’t know what you’re doing’ from a section of the fans. Not surprisingly the home side looked a bit nervous considering their recent poor form, which led to the departure of Sammy Lee.

Nicolas Anelka should have put Bolton ahead in the 22nd minute after Rodriguez slipped but sent a weak chip into the arms of the goalkeeper.

Caretaker boss Archie Knox had opted to play Ricardo Gardner wide left rather than left-back and he was seeing plenty of the ball.

The Jamaican’s link-up play with top scorer Anelka gave the supporters reason to be optimistic while Kevin Davies was putting in another hard shift.

Anelka then picked out Gary Speed in the 37th minute but his downward header went wide of the post in a good spell of pressure by Bolton.

Anelka was looking Bolton’s best option and he latched on to a loose ball after 52 minutes only to fire his effort from distance over the top.

However there was little entertainment to fire the supporters’ imagination - the crowd of 10,848 was pitiful – or Megson’s for that matter.

With a sparse crowd attending, the match had the atmosphere of a pre-season friendly rather than a European night.

Bolton were not helping themselves either with a string of misplaced passes, which emphasised a lack of confidence among some players.

Danny Guthrie tried to pick out Anelka in the 61st minute but his pass was intercepted and the chance lost.

The on-loan Liverpool midfielder was then replaced by Diouf a minute later – a decision greeted by jeers from some fans.

Bolton had a scare two minutes later when Paulo Jorge saw his close-range header deflected to safety.

Braga kept up the pressure and Jussi Jaaskelainen was forced to make a good block after Jorginho tried his luck from close range.

However Bolton responded and made the breakthrough in the 65th minute to give themselves a shot in the arm.

Anelka picked out Davies on the right and he whipped a cross that Diouf headed home at the back post.

Braga almost drew level in the 80th minute when Jaaskelainen made a marvellous block after Cesar Peixoto drove the ball in from distance.

Bolton hit back and Davies saw his effort come back off the bar four minutes later.

But they were stunned in the 86th minute when substitute Jailson grabbed the equaliser, sending a looping header over Jaaskelainen following a cross from Joao Pereira.