Cologne coach Zvonimir Soldo took heart from his side's performance last night after seeing a 0-0 draw at Bochum.

The Croatian has come under fire recently, even from within his own club, as Cologne slumped to the brink of the bottom three in the Bundesliga.

But last night's draw, in which Cologne were arguably closer to victory than their hosts, allowed him to breathe a small sigh of relief.

"My team showed that they have the quality," said Soldo, whose side welcome Werder Bremen come to the Mungersdorfer Stadion next Sunday.

"I am very happy because my team played for the full 90 minutes with a lot of commitment and provided the right answer to the events of the last few weeks.

"We controlled an away game very well and had the better chances in the second half.

"If we continue playing with such spirit, and with this 100% commitment, then we are capable of surviving against any opponent."

Bochum remain in the bottom three after failing to build on their unexpected win at Hamburg last Sunday, and their coach Heiko Herrlich appeared disappointed with his team's step backwards.

"We lost possession far too easily," he moaned. "Particularly when we were attacking.

"It was a bad game from both sides in the first half. We wanted to carry on with the momentum from the win in Hamburg, but we have not managed it."

The point lifted Bochum above Stuttgart to 16th in the table, although the Swabians can move out of the bottom three with a win at leaders Bayer Leverkusen tomorrow.