JAY Spearing shrugged off crisis talk at Wanderers, insisting “this isn’t a repeat of last season.”

The skipper faced the music after another disappointment against Middlesbrough on Tuesday night, which saw the Whites throw away a 1-0 lead to lose the game 2-1.

It leaves Dougie Freedman’s side in the bottom three of the embryonic Championship table with just one point to show from their opening three games.

Inevitably, comparisons are starting to be drawn with 12 months ago when Wanderers made their worst start to a league campaign since 1902 by failing to win any of their first 10 games.

Spearing – whose own performances have come under scrutiny from supporters – believes such assessments are premature.

“We don’t want to do like we did last season and be waiting 10 games without a win,” he told The Bolton News.

“But I honestly believe that once we get the first win, we’ll kick on.

“I’m not thinking about that run. I don’t want to concentrate on that, it shouldn’t even be touching our mind.

“This feels different, anyway. We feel like we should have got six points out of the two home games and now we have to look at Saturday and getting a win at Brighton.”

After leaving the field with the discontent of Wanderers fans ringing in his ears, Spearing is well aware that performances in the first three games have not come close to matching expectations.

While the captain felt short-changed by referee Stephen Martin against Boro – pointing out that defender Seb Hines should have been sent off for his challenge on Craig Davies in the first half and that David Wheater’s penalty had been a soft award – the midfielder admits the onus is on the players to make their own luck.

“You’re only human,” he said. “Like everyone else you look at some of the bits of bad fortune we’ve been getting and hope they change.

“We need to pick ourselves up. As captain, and not just myself – players like Matt Mills and others with experience – we need to push ourselves and make sure we keep going.

“We know the last couple of games have been frustrating but we can’t concentrate on what other people are saying about us. There is plenty of time left in the season to change it.

“The referee made a few decisions that changed the game but we can’t blame him, we have to look at ourselves.

“We gave away two poor goals and we’re killing ourselves. We can’t dwell on it, though, we’ve got 43 games left.

Next up is Brighton at the Amex Stadium, a ground that has yielded just one point in the two visits to date.

Sami Hyppia’s side picked up their first win of the season at Leeds United in midweek but Spearing reckons there is enough character in the Whites squad to get a result on the South Coast.

“The squad we have at the moment has more maturity, more honesty and there is more hard work being put in,” he said. “You should be able to see that.

“We have got a massive game now on Saturday. We can’t mope around, we have to put it right and pick up three points.

“I feel like we have got ourselves in a decent position in the last two games. We just need to make sure we keep our concentration.”