A WORRIED Phil Parkinson looked back on the wreckage of Wanderers’ 3-0 home defeat to Brentford and admitted: “We completely lost our way.”

Now five points from safety and without a win in their first nine games, Parkinson conceded his team had been nowhere near good enough at the Macron Stadium on Saturday.

And asked whether they had enough quality to avoid relegation, the Whites boss courted controversy by confessing: “At the moment it would appear not.”

Wanderers have now failed to score in a club record six games, a drought stretching back nearly 10 hours of football, leaving the man who masterminded last season’s promotion from League One facing an uncertain future.

The backlash from Bolton fans could be heard during the second half as goals from Yoann Barbet, Nico Yennaris and Ollie Watkins helped the Bees to their first victory of the campaign.

And Parkinson could have little complaint at the criticism after witnessing what was arguably the low point of his 15 months at the club.

“I can understand it without a shadow of a doubt,” he told The Bolton News. “Our supporters have been great and I can’t complain at what they have been saying. They have just seen their team get beaten and lose any kind of structure and cohesion in their play. It made us look bad as a staff and as a coaching team and we are a lot better than that.

“That is the first time I have seen a team completely lose its way.”

Parkinson says he is determined to win over the growing number of doubters, starting with tomorrow night’s trip to Bristol City.

Jem Karacan will miss the game after picking up a fifth booking of the season and Sammy Ameobi – who failed to make Saturday’s squad after a pre-match fitness test – could return to contention.

The Bolton boss is demanding instant improvement at Ashton Gate – the venue of a humiliating 6-0 defeat in Wanderers’ last Championship stint.

“We are just hurting at the moment,” he said. “There is nothing worse than keep losing. This was a big game and for the first time I felt the lads’ heads went down. We cannot allow that to happen. No-one is going to feel sorry for us.”