WANDERERS will spend Christmas in the Championship relegation zone after another agonising defeat against Brentford.

Neal Maupay’s 62nd minute strike settled a tense affair between the division’s two most out-of-sorts sides and gave the Bees their first win in six.

Phil Parkinson’s side have now won just once in 19 and are now a point worse off than they were at this stage last season.

They once again struggled to create meaningful opportunities, at least until the bitter end when sub Craig Noone skidded a cross-shot narrowly wide and goalkeeper Ben Alnwick – up in a desperate attempt to score an equaliser – dropped an injury-time header just wide.

Brentford had created a few good chances early on through Said Benrahama and Ollie Watkins but Gary O’Neil’s deflected effort was as good as it got for Bolton.

The home side controlled the second half and deserved to go in front when Maupay smashed in his 14th of the season after some good work from Benrahama on the edge of the penalty box.

Defeat, and another game without a goal, was hard to take for Parkinson.

“It’s another very, very tight game, nothing in it,” he said. “One excellent finish from Maupay has separated the two teams.

“We got into some excellent crossing positions. I thought the first 10-15 minutes we started a little bit slow but we grew into the first half and either the quality of the cross wasn’t good enough or the desire to get on the end of them wasn’t there to get us the much-needed goal we are all craving.

“Even in the second half we got into some very good positions again, balls have been flashed across the goal, and we haven’t been able to covert those crosses into goals.

“The difference today is one moment of quality and I have said that quite a few times recently. You know the lads are giving their all, you can see that, but when you are out on the football pitch you need someone to go past someone and smash it in the top corner just to give the lads and our supporters that lift that we’re not getting. You can see the lads are absolutely slogging themselves into the ground trying to make it happen, but we need moments of quality in and around that final third just to give us a lift in a game of football.”

On Alnwick’s late chance, the Wanderers boss added: “Just before that Nooney had a terrific chance where he danced inside two of them and slid it across the face of goal. Ben then had a header at the back stick and if he’d have got a shout he could have brought it down on his chest. It was a great opportunity.”