KEITH Hill insists there is still plenty for Wanderers to play for despite seeing his hopes of a miraculous escape from relegation fade significantly with 15 games to play in League One.

Bolton slipped 19 points behind AFC Wimbledon in the final position of safety after a 2-0 home defeat against Wycombe – their seventh loss in the last nine games.

Criticism of the manager, and his culpability in the poor run of form, increased significantly over the weekend.

Hill is realistic about Wanderers’ chances of closing the gap but believes he can still garner performances from his players over the next months which can benefit the club’s future, which now looks almost certain to rest in League Two.

“I wanted to win games, create this impossible dream, and it’s still alive,” he said. “But I have been asked the question is it possible? It’s possible but is it probable?

“Unless there’s a little bit of fortune or a massive change to the type of performance we need from defence to midfield and attack, then it highly unlikely. But that doesn’t detract from the desire to represent this great club – me as a manager or the coaching staff and players, to try and design success. That’s all we’re trying to do.”

Hill said he came into the job knowing he could risk adding the first relegation of his managerial career on to his CV.

The Whites overturned the 12-point deficit imposed by the EFL for going into administration ahead of schedule, with a 1-0 win against MK Dons on November 16. But since then the team has taken just 10 points from a possible 45.

A big overhaul of the playing squad in January did not aid continuity but Hill accepts the squad he assembled has not lived up to its billing.

“We have potentially got a good side but nobody is bothered about potential. You need to deal with the present,” he said.

“This club has got a bright future. At this moment it is going through a transitional period and we’re trying to carry the club through that and results haven’t gone to my satisfaction, never mind the supporters. But I came to the club understanding from the very first minute that I accepted the job to where I am now, that this was always a possibility.”