Bolton Wanderers deserve to be down the bottom of the table, says Gary Speed.

After their draw with Derby, Speed rapped: "I don't think the league lies. When you are down there, things don't seem to go your way.

"But you can't always look back and blame other things. Eight games have gone and we've got only five points, so that says everything.

"The problem is we've stopped keeping clean sheets. There's been only one and we won that game.

"With the likes of Diouf and Anelka in the team, we're always going to score so we need to shut things out.

"Certainly it's a relegation battle but you can do one of two things - you can wilt and die or you can roll up your sleeves and work even harder."

Nicolas Anelka helped the Trotters to a point after Kenny Miller's opener for Derby.

But there have already been murmurs surrounding boss Sammy Lee's position as Bolton move into the post-Sam Allardyce era.

Speed added: "It's going to happen but we can't listen to that. Everyone's involved. It's no one's fault and it's everyone's fault."