Manager believes season's end could well hinge on a hectic schedule over the coming month
Neil Lennon believes the upcoming period of fixtures will decided whether the season ends on a positive or negative note.
After an eight-game unbeaten run throughout November and December, Bolton are now without victory in their last three league outings.
In one of those games, the 2-2 draw with Wolves at Macron Stadium, the visitors netted a late equaliser to deny Bolton all three points.
And with back to back home games on the horizon before trips to Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough on the horizon the manager believes upcoming results will set the tone for the remainder of the campaign.
“We put out a pretty strong team against Derby and were fine for 40 minutes,” Lennon said. “We then gave away some very cheap goals to a very good side and contributed to our own downfall.
“We lost two players at half time due to injury, and this is all part of the challenge of being a manager. We’re now looking forward and are enthusiastic about the challenge ahead.
“If we had won last week against Wolves we would have been in the top half. We now find ourselves down towards the bottom three again. It just shows you how tight the league table is.
“We have two home games coming up. If we’re able to win those then things are suddenly looking a lot more positive.
“We’re not down at this moment in time, but we are slightly disappointed with recent results. Our performances have merited better.
“We’ve been able to bring in a number of players over the last month – how quickly we’re going to be able to bed them in is something we’re going to have to look at.
“Filip Twardzik and Simeon Slavchev came in and did well in difficult circumstances at Derby. We also feel that Barry Bannan came in and had a decent game on his debut, whilst we’ve been very pleased with what we have so far seen from Adam Le Fondre.
“There’s no doubting that these players will improve as they get used to the way in which we play and train.”