NEIL Lennon reckons the cash currently burning a hole in his pocket is the product of some hard graft off the pitch at Wanderers.

The Whites boss is in the unfamiliar position of knowing he has funds to spend as his scours high and low for a new striker in the loan market.

Considerable cuts have been made to the playing budget in the last 12 months to get the club operating on a more sustainable basis, and Lennon is now looking forward to the reaping the rewards.

“We’ve worked very, very hard,” he told The Bolton News. “I think we’re in the black by a considerable distance since we’ve been in there but I’m not looking for a pat on the back; it was a necessary evil if you can call it that.

“I don’t know what the exact amount we’ve got to spend but it’s enough to bring in another player, and someone who can make a real difference for us.”

Lennon’s squad remains finely balanced – with Zach Clough’s injury on Tuesday night showing just how shallow his options are in certain positions – but the Northern Irishman is happy with how his side have acquitted themselves so far this season.

“I'm quite pleased,” he said. You'd want to turn the draws into wins but you can't have everything.

“They've given me everything and there's a decent style of play. We were the stronger team against Sheffield Wednesday and restricted them to pot-shots for the majority of the 45 minutes and we were on the front foot.

“In the first half it was open and we were a little bit dozy, trying to play off-side which we don't do and Ben Amos made a great stop.

“But in terms of competitiveness, as we're not the biggest team without Darren Pratley or David Wheater, we're competing brilliantly at set pieces and some of the football is very good.

“And in the likes of Wellington Silva and Mark Davies, we've got that bit of quality and people who can go past a player. But we're just lacking that bit of quality on the end of things that will make the difference.”