Although Megson insists his squad are "together" in their quest for Barclays Premier League survival and the overwhelming majority of Bolton fans who have approached him since his shock arrival as Sammy Lee's successor were positive, a pall of negativity continues to surround him.

From booing in the stands - actually aimed at referee Martin Atkinson - to the size of the crowd - 18,000 for a televised Sunday game against Aston Villa - anything downbeat emanating from the Bolton camp is being attached to Megson's arrival.

Yet the new manager remains remarkably upbeat and is finding it easy to distance himself from the sniping.

And, while he admits the criticisms are "unhelpful", he has a clear message for anyone outside the Bolton camp eager to drag the club down.

"I am not here for a popularity contest, I am here to improve the fortunes of this football club," he said.

"It is not for me to dictate to people, they will react to results like everyone else.

"But some of the stuff the players are reading is so far wide of the mark it is laughable.

"Contrary to popular belief, the reaction towards me has been quite good. The people coming up to me have had Bolton at heart. I share those sentiments.

"I don't think the kind of atmosphere outside the club at the moment helps but the players are together and they know an awful lot more about me than the people who are writing about me."

Although Megson is sticking to the mantra of results being the only way to turn around both Bolton's fortunes and the wider perception of him, the Carling Cup clash with Manchester City does not quite fall into the same category.

Sam Allardyce was renowned for chopping and changing his team in the competition, even though they got to the final in 2004, and Lee did the same in the previous round at Fulham.

However, with Bolton's league position no better, a key encounter with West Ham looming, followed by the glamorous UEFA Cup trip to Bayern Munich, tomorrow's game is one Megson would probably admit privately he could well do without.

Certainly with a mass of niggles, plus a worrying hamstring injury for top scorer Nicolas Anelka, a number of changes can be expected even though victory would take Bolton to within three wins of a place in Europe for the third time in four seasons.

"The priority is staying in the Premier League, without a doubt," he said.

"We will be looking to do as well as we possibly can in every competition we play in but it always has to be about staying in the Premier League."

Although there is minimal time in between games to work on anything more expansive than basic tactics, Megson has managed to get round most of his squad for individual chats.

Rather than outlining a bold vision for the future, the former West Brom boss has preferred to look at little things, starting with the confidence of his players which, understandably given how results have gone this season, has been at a fairly low ebb.

"There is a fantastic determination among the players to get out of the position we are in. That doesn't need any work," he said.

"But maybe confidence is a little bit low, so we have to judge them on their work-rate, the effort they have put in and the commitment, things you don't really need confidence for.

"That was there in spades on Sunday and once that improves, it might allow us to move up a little bit and work on improving the passing and the finishing.

"There are a lot of positive things around this club.

"Maybe people are not focussing on them but myself and the players are."