The team's renaissance under manager Gary Megson continued on Thursday night with a 1-0 UEFA Cup victory against highly-fancied Atletico Madrid in the first leg at the Reebok Stadium.

Diouf scored the winner in a dramatic match with his fifth goal of the campaign in the 74th minute.

It gives Bolton a slim advantage going into the return leg in Spain next week with Sporting Lisbon or Basle awaiting the winners in the next round.

Diouf believes they are on the rise despite the home defeat by Portsmouth last weekend.

He said: "We played well against a good side. Atletico Madrid are not a small team.

"We will be going there trying to doing the same things - scoring a goal and keeping a clean sheet.

"It is important we enjoy ourselves in Madrid and play the football we are capable of.

"If we perform like we did last night every week then we will stay in the Premier League."

The turning point in the game came when Sergio Aguero was red-carded for spitting.

The gifted Argentina striker showed his frustration after bundling over man of the match Matt Taylor.

Diouf made the breakthrough a minute later and the result was richly deserved given the amount of possession Bolton had.

Striker Kevin Davies, however, was slightly disappointed the margin of victory was not greater.

He said: "It would have been nice to have pushed on after they were reduced to 10 men and got a second goal. But we will take 1-0.

"It will be a lot different in Madrid. They will be under pressure to have a go.

"We will have to be resilient and show we are a hard team to beat."

While relegation remains a threat, Bolton are undefeated in seven UEFA Cup games and far from one-dimensional under Megson.

They mix their game up and look comfortable playing it long or short.

Megson, though, insists there is much work to be done in Spain.

He said: "It would be nice to go over there with more than a one goal lead as they are an excellent team."