KEITH Hill is determined to keep expectations in check after returning to winning ways against Southend at the weekend.

Wanderers scored three goals against the Shrimpers – the first time they had managed that in a league game since the final day of the 2017/18 season when they beat Nottingham Forest 3-2.

The Bolton boss won’t get carried away, however, and wants his players to brush up on the defensive issues which surfaced in the game before they travel to Sunderland on Boxing Day.

“I just see the fact we have taken care of business, nothing more than that,” he said of the Southend result. “It’s the same way I didn’t see the 7-1 against Accrington as anything other than a result I had to move on from. It doesn’t have any impact on what you do next time around.

“We have to take the good and the bad from the game – and there were things we have to improve on.

“Sunderland will be a different issue. I can’t explain just how difficult this situation is, not just for me, the staff and the players but for everyone.

“For a working operation as a manger this is the hardest I have ever had to work, and it won’t get any easier any time soon.”