OWEN Coyle has called for his players to stand up and be counted after they were thumped by Chelsea on an emotional night at the Reebok following the death of Nat Lofthouse.

Wanderers contributed to their own downfall in the 4-0 defeat as football celebrated the life of one of the game’s greats.

A catalogue of defensive blunders gifted the champions victory as Bolton slipped to 10th in the table after taking just one point from a possible 15.

And the manager has issued a rallying call to his team as they look to halt their slide down the league.

“We’re hurting,” said Coyle. “It’s disappointing but we need to pick ourselves because there’s no fairy dust or magic wand in football. It’s about hard work.

“When you’re winning anyone can play in those games because confidence is high. It’s when you’ve lost a couple of games and the confidence has taken a little hit, that’s when you need the strength of character, mental belief and courage.

“That’s what we need now. We need players to stand up and say ‘I’m the one who can help us turn the corner’.”

Coyle was unimpressed with his side’s woeful defending. The Bolton boss added: “We gifted them each and every one of the goals and that’s disappointing.

“We started in a terrific manner and were in the ascendancy – and then we gave the ball away cheaply, and that was the same with all the goals. They were self-inflicted.

“And if you give the ball away to this quality of opposition then that’s what will happen.

“Didier Drogba’s was an unbelievable finish but it’s a poor touch from Gretar Steinsson. If you look at the second goal, we had opportunities to clear it from the corner and the third goal the skipper [Kevin Davies] is under no pressure and he’s given it straight to them.

“We’ve paid a heavy price for poor decision making. But every bounce of the ball in the box went against us and landed perfectly for Chelsea, so the luck went their way. Their finishing was top class but there certainly wasn’t four goals between the two teams.”