Bolton captain Kevin Nolan has issued a heart-felt plea to the fans to remain loyal in what he views as the club's "hour of need."
The Wanderers supporters booed off the players at the end of Sunday's dismal 1-0 defeat to relegation rivals Wigan at the JJB Stadium.
Bolton played against 10 men for 86 minutes after midfielder Jason Koumas was shown a straight red card for a tackle on Gary Cahill.
Yet despite the fact nine of the players on view had the midweek off, missing Thursday's UEFA Cup defeat at Sporting Lisbon, they failed to raise their game for such a crucial encounter.
The result means Bolton are firmly entrenched in the bottom three of the Barclays Premier League, and it does not get any easier as they face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Nolan has called on the supporters continue to get behind the players because he knows they will struggle to stay up without their backing.
"We were rightly booed off by the fans, and although it's very disappointing to hear that and see it in their faces, we are hurting as much as they are," said Nolan.
"I just want to plead with them, as captain and one of the main members of the team, to please just stay with us because we do need them in what is our hour of need.
"We've nine games to go, and although I believe we will get out of it and stay up, I know that at the moment it looks bleak.
"I certainly feel we've the team, the ammunition, the individuals and that we can put in the effort to make sure we're in the Premier League next season."
Manager Gary Megson made it clear that if the players do not start to realise the gravity of their situation and begin to improve, then they will be relegated.
Nolan can understand the manager's sentiments, adding: "He's only speaking the truth because on that evidence we are going down.
"There's not too much we can take from a defeat like that. We were poor, especially in the first half, although we put them under a lot of pressure in the second.
"We just needed that goal, and if only I'd taken my chance early in the second half, but Chris Kirkland pulled off a wonder save.
"I should have scored, I know that. I'm expected to score in those situations, and I'm very disappointed I didn't.
"But we kept on going to the end, and that's probably the only positive we can take from the game.
"In the dressing room there are a lot of disappointed lads, but it is up to us to stand up and be counted, get together and make sure we go on from here.
"We've nine games to go to get ourselves out of this, and we all believe we can do it - but it's no good talking about it, we have to do it."
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