Bolton Wanderers have lost their last five matches on the bounce and have only tasted victory in two of their last 13 league matches.

It has been a very steep fall from grace since the opening stretch of the season where the Trotters flirted in and around the automatic promotion places.

Bolton's dramatic slide down the table almost identically correlated with Gethin Jones' absence from the side through injury.

The 26-year-old right back, who has recently been named the club's vice captain, made his long awaited return from the bench in Tuesday evening's 2-0 defeat at home to Wycombe Wanderers.

Jones offered some fighting talk on how Bolton can haul themselves out of this rut when he spoke to the Manchester Evening News.

He said: "Box to box we have played some good stuff, it’s just the finishing product, and then in our own box we need to defend some goals a bit better.

"We need to keep battling and it will end up okay.

"We talked about it after the game and we know when we play well, we won’t be there, or we shouldn’t be there.

"We don’t know what has happened from the start of the season to now, what has changed so much. Obviously we have had injuries, and then all the Covid hurt us, but we still have quality in the squad.

"The only way it changes is by working hard. Getting on the training ground and making sure everything we do, we do well."

Marlon Fossey has impressed after coming in on loan from Fulham this month, so Jones will have to work hard to reclaim the right back berth and contribute to weathering the current storm surrounding The UniBol.

The Verdict

Bolton need their senior players to stand up and be counted or there is a very realistic chance that Bolton return to League Two for next season.

Another concerning wrinkle is that the Trotters' two wins in the last 13 outings have come against the bottom two sides in the division, Crewe Alexandra and Doncaster Rovers, seeing them struggle enormously against teams outside of the relegation picture.

Further January business is expected to equip Ian Evatt with the tools to ensure Bolton can return to the performance levels they showed at the start of the season.

Jones' outlet down the right hand side and eye for a pass in the final third could certainly contribute to Bolton climbing away from the drop in the coming months.