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Only Bolton keeper assured of starting place after Villa horror show

Bolton boss Gary Megson has told his players only keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is assured of his place for the derby against Blackburn on Sunday. Even after two weeks Megson is still reeling from the 5-1 defeat by Aston Villa, which posed searching questions about the quality of his squad.

He said: "The Villa defeat will rankle for a long time. Whatever team it turns out to be on Sunday...if Jussi is not playing, he is the only one who could say it is out of order.

"Everyone else who plays against Blackburn can consider themselves fortunate in my book."

The performance at Villa caught Megson by surprise.

He said: "I had been pleased with the way we performed against Chelsea and Manchester United. I was also delighted with our displays against Everton and Tottenham.

"We are in exactly the same position as we were in last season and we went on to finish 13th, without doing well in our last six games. We want to try and improve on that.

"I would like to see us judged at the end of the season but everyone in football is judged all the time. We are under constant scrutiny."

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