IT should come as no surprise to Wanderers fans that their team is still odds-on favourites for relegation from League One.

Keith Hill’s men are 20/1 on with some bookmakers to be playing League Two football next season, followed by the likes of Southend United and AFC Wimbledon.

They fell 18 points behind the safety line with last weekend’s defeat at Portsmouth and still have the possibility of further punishment from the EFL hanging over their heads.

Hill is urging his players to fight what is in front of them, rather than worrying about the potential consequences, and to ignore anyone writing off their chances.

“The club’s been fighting a long, hard summer and there’s no relief – but we’re still in it,” he told The Bolton News. “Anyone who disrespects League One just doesn’t know it.

“I have been operating in this division for six years, and prior to that I’d been in the Championship.

“I went back to League Two for a season and got promoted – so I know exactly what it takes at this level. It’s organisation, there are good teams with good players who should not be disrespected.

“We’ll fight the odds. It’ll take everybody and it’ll take solidarity and it’ll take staying on a sound plan to reinvigorate the footballing fortunes of this football club."