Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt has conceded defeat in the race for the top two automatic promotion spots from League One after his side's loss against Ipswich Town.

The Trotters, who until recently were the form side in the third tier and appeared destined to mount a serious push for the top two, have fallen away of late.

Their 2-0 home defeat by Town on Saturday left them with just one win in the their last five and sat in sixth place in the table, having played at least one game more than every other team in the league.

They're now 11 points behind second-placed Plymouth Argyle, and are instead looking nervously over their shoulders at Wycombe, who are six points behind with two games in hand.

"I think that has gone, we’re all realistic here,” Evatt told the Bolton News, when asked about his side's automatic promotion chances.

"We are not looking there now, we are just looking to cement ourselves in the play-offs, and we are there at the moment.

"These football seasons are long and drawn out affairs and you go through sticky spells, which we are in one at the moment.

"We need to get back to ourselves and we’ll work very hard this week to try and do that against Sheffield Wednesday.”

Bolton travel to the table-topping Owls on Friday night (7.45pm).