Bolton fans owed apology for poor season - Forino

Chris Forino joined Bolton Wanderers on a three-year contract last summer

Bolton Wanderers defender Chris Forino has said the club's fans deserve an apology after they lost further ground on a League One play-off place.

Steven Schumacher's side lost 4-2 to Lincoln City on Easter Monday to all but end their hopes of a play-off place with two games still to play.

Having reached last season's play-off final, where they were defeated by Oxford United at Wembley, Bolton have stumbled under former boss Ian Evatt and current boss Schumacher's stewardship during an inconsistent 2024-25 campaign.

Asked by BBC Radio Manchester if he had a message for the fans in the aftermath of Monday's loss, Forino said: "I think they deserve an apology. They travel in their numbers up and down the country. They have expectations.

"When I joined the club I knew what those expectations were. It can weigh heavy on the shoulders but it doesn't weight heavy on mine.

"I just feel sorry for them, really. They back us to the hilt every single week. They pay their hard-earned money, they're booking days off work. I know what it's like to be a fan. I've had a season ticket at Arsenal.

"You want to see effort and desire from the boys. Sometimes if the quality is lacking you can live with that as a fan. I feel like across the season they've been let down a little bit."

After putting together a run of three wins and one draw from four games in February and March to remain in the top six, the form of Schumacher's side has dropped off dramatically since.

Since their 2-1 win at Burton in March, Bolton have lost seven out of nine games to drop down to eighth and move virtually out of play-off contention due to a vastly inferior goal difference (-3) compared to sixth-placed Leyton Orient (+20) and seventh-placed Reading (+11), who are both six points ahead of Bolton with two games left.

"I came here in the summer with the belief that we'd get promoted. That's not the case," Forino added.

"We can do what we want on the training pitch, we can say what we want in the dressing room.

"Saturday and Tuesday is what counts and we let ourselves down. We've let both gaffers down, we've let the fans down this season."