KEN Anderson has defended himself against a perceived lack of investment at Wanderers.

Reacting to comments thought to have been made on social media, the Bolton chairman penned an explanation of the club’s apparent lack of spending power compared with others in the Championship.

The summer arrival of Josh Magennis for £200,000 was the first fee paid by Wanderers in more than three years, after which another cash sum – believed to be £400,000 - was paid to Forest Green for Christian Doidge.

Many clubs across the Championship pulled in their belts this summer, with the likes of Derby County, Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City all having to trim costs to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.

Figures available on transfermrkt.com suggest only nine teams spent more on players than they brought in, although loan fees are not usually disclosed.

Among the big spenders were Stoke City, who invested £12.5million on returning to the Premier League at the first attempt, Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough, who both shelled out around £23m.

Anderson claims the austere measures will only be eased if the club begins to make more money on gate receipts and hospitality.

"I have noted some recent comments in relation to the money we have spent on players in comparison to what other clubs have done in this league," he said in a column on the official website.

"It is true to say that in all four divisions, all clubs have differing budgets and are not on a level playing field in what they can pay out on transfer fees and on player salaries.

"As such, clubs must cut their cloth accordingly and here at Bolton Wanderers we are no different.

"As I have always said, we will always adhere to our budget and never deviate from it. We cannot get into the same position we found ourselves in prior to my involvement.

"I've noted that people have questioned why we aren't able to compete for young players who are being loaned out to Championship clubs by Premier League teams. The simple answer is that to get these players on board you have to pay circa £30,000 per week to contribute to their salaries.

"Unfortunately, this is not within our means at this moment in time but our budget will only improve with increased commercial, ticketing and hospitality revenue and that is where our supporters can help."