Bolton's relegation to League One was confirmed on Saturday afternoon after 4-1 thrashing at the hands of play-off hopefuls, Derby County, at the iPro Stadium.

The Trotters' relegation has looked certain for some time now but the defeat on Saturday, their 23rd of the season, confirmed that they would be playing in the third tier of English football for the first time since 1993.

Scottish forward Johnny Russell was the star of the show, scoring twice for his side, including a cracking half-volley to open the scoring in the 13th minute.

Russell completed the scoring in the 77th minute after Tom Ince and Jacob Butterfield scored for the Rams, while young Zach Clough converted from the spot in the 73rd minute as a consolation prize for the travelling Bolton fans.

The result leaves Derby fifth in the Championship, seven points ahead of seventh-placed Cardiff City.

Here's THREE we learned from the game:

1) Bolton's relegation finally confirmed

The only place to start with this game is Bolton's relegation to the third tier finally confirmed. Bolton never looked like winning the game and, in truth, they've never really looked like staying in the Championship.

Interim manager Jimmy Phillips slammed his side post match, saying that his side lacked quality, desire or fight in the game.

This has been the case for most of the season and only a handful of players have showed any of the three things to Phillips blasted his side for lacking, the goal scorer included in that.

2) Derby looking back to their best

Since Darren Wassall replaced Paul Clement as Derby's Head Coach in February, results and displays led to some suggesting that they may not even make the play-offs.

But in their last two games, they've collected six points and scored eight goals along the way, the Rams look like they are back to their best and their play-off place nows certain now.

Wassell will want his side to continue their run so they can take momentum into the play-offs in order to give their promotion chances a big boost.

3) The Rams' attacking prowess finally starting the show

Derby chairman Mel Morris spent heavily on the squad in the summer and added a significant amount of attacking talent, including the likes of Tom Ince and Jacob Butterfield.

Those players, among others, are really starting to show their attacking potential and the two previous games have shown just how good they can be in the final third of the pitch.

Its just a shame that it's taken this long for them all to click as the Rams could well have been in the battle for the title.

Derby and Bolton fans...What did you make of the match? Will Derby win promotion? Can Bolton bounce back into the Championship at the first attempt? Let us know what you think in the comments below!