Bolton manager Keith Hill has paid tribute to the way that those players who are still at the club from last season have stepped up to help Wanderers fightback in the difficult circumstances they find themselves in.

Following their relegation from the Championship at the end of last season, Bolton started this season with a twelve-point deduction for entering administration earlier this year, and with only a handful of senior players to upon at the start of the season.

Having brought in a number of loanees and free-agents late in the summer transfer window - with Hill himself only taking over in late August - things are slowly starting to look up for Bolton, with their league win at home to play-off chasing Fleetwood on Saturday making it three straight wins in all competitions for the Trotters, and Hill is clearly keen to heap praise on those who have been with the club since the start of the season.

Speaking to The Bolton News about those players, the Wanderers boss said: "They have been brilliant.

“Look at Jason Lowe – magnificent since I came to this football club, a great professional. People like Remi Matthews and some of the younger players who came through it all, now they are leading by example.

“They deserve a pat on the back. But they know the work is not completed, nowhere near, in fact."

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Discussing the challenge his side are facing, Hill continued: “We’ve won a few games and everyone is feeling good about it, there’s a bounce about the place, but it’s not ‘we’ve won a match week’ it’s ‘let’s win another week’”.

Despite that recent upturn in form, Bolton are still bottom of the League One table on minus two points, 15 adrift of safety, although it still seems as though the mood and bond around the club is starting to improve regardless of that, with Hill adding: “Players are enjoying their football, the atmosphere and the environment, the culture we are trying to bring to the football club – they are embracing it, and that is what we have had on the training pitch.

“It’s a win-win, if we’re successful then individuals become successful. You don’t get a team that fails and one individual rises out of it and gets success.

“Those players have been magnificent in supporting me and Dave and making sure that there is a unity on the training pitch for the work and effort we’re trying to convey to the players. Every day is a hard work day.”

Bolton are next in action on Saturday when they host League Two side Plymouth Argyle in the first round of the FA Cup, before returning to league action the following weekend, as they take on struggling MK Dons at The University of Bolton Stadium.

The Verdict

I think this is probably a fair comment from Hill.

In all fairness, it is hard not to be impressed with anyone currently involved at Bolton at the minute given the circumstances, but I do see what the Bolton boss means here.

Those players who remained at the club during the summer - when there was no certainty about whether there would even be a Bolton this season - could have easily walked away, so their loyalty to the club certainly deserves to be commended.

With that ensuring there was a foundation in place for this new squad to now build on, that contribution must not be underestimated, and there are plenty who look set to come away from this season with a great deal of credit, regardless of whether or not Bolton are able to avoid relegation.