Neil Lennon believes that his luckless Bolton side are not far away from turning performances into points after a 2-0 defeat to Burnley consigned Wanderers to the foot of the table.
After an even first half, multi-million pound striker Andre Gray put the game beyond Bolton, scoring a goal either side of a golden chance for Liam Feeney to equalise.
But Lennon refused to criticise his troops, and believes his side’s efforts are deserving of more than just one win in 11 games this term.
“The difference obviously is a player who cost a lot of money,” he said.
“But in terms of us being away from home against a team who came down from the Premier League, I thought we were the better team.
“While we’re bottom of the league, and while I’m under pressure, I have to take the positives.
“I’m gutted, but I have to look at the performance and realise there was a lot to take out of that, and if we play like that for the rest of the season there’s no reason why we can’t get ourselves out of the position we find ourselves in.
“Small margins make a difference in football, and it’s not just this league, it’s any league, and in any sort of sport, it’s the fine lines.”
Wanderers do not have time to lick their wounds, however, with tomorrow’s game at home to Birmingham followed quickly by the visit of Leeds United, who this morning parted company with manager Uwe Rosler.
Amidst the doom and gloom, Wanderers still have an unbeaten home league record to preserve, and Lennon is fully aware that six points could significantly improve the outlook of the club – and also his stewardship.
“We’ve two home games to come – both winnable – and if we do that then it changes the landscape of everything.
“We move onto Tuesday, but we’ve got a difficult game against Birmingham – win that and the confidence will come back, but I don’t think they’re short of confidence at the moment.
“We’re trying to find the right recipe; we’ll keep working to do that until changes need to be made, if at all.”
Image courtesy of Bolton Wanderers, via Youtube, with thanks
