[14] Lee was not the only Bolton player to suffer a major injury in pre season, with Tyrone Mears who had only just joined the club from Burnley, also breaking his leg in a training session on 4 August.

Edin Džeko restored Manchester City's two-goal cushion straight after halftime before Kevin Davies pulled a goal back with a header midway through the second half from Petrov's free-kick.

A week later they fell to bottom with a 3–0 loss at Arsenal, two goals from Robin van Persie and a late strike from Alex Song doing the damage.

This was Chelsea's ninth straight win at the Reebok Stadium, but Bolton did finally score a goal against them at home, through Dedryck Boyata, something they hadn't managed since 2002–03.

A Gary Caldwell own goal was pulled back by Mohamed Diamé, but David Ngog, opening his account for Bolton, regained the lead on the stroke of half time.

However an early, and contentious, Kevin Davies goal along with braces from both Chris Eagles and Ivan Klasnić gave Bolton a 5–0 win, equalling their best ever victory in the Premier League.

However, Shane Long won the game for West Bromwich midway through the second half, leaving Bolton still just inside the relegation zone.

Second half goals from Marouane Fellaini and Apostolos Vellios gave Everton a 2–0 win and Bolton finished November still just inside the relegation zone.

With only one team in Premier League history surviving at the end of the season when being bottom at Christmas, Bolton went into the local derby at Blackburn Rovers the following Tuesday knowing that only a victory would prevent this.

After Bogdán had saved a Wayne Rooney penalty midway through the first half, Paul Scholes scored his first goal since coming out of retirement just before the break.

The club started February with a goalless draw at home to Arsenal which kept them just outside the relegation zone, two points ahead of eighteenth placed Blackburn Rovers.

This was Bolton's first clean sheet since the 5–0 victory over Stoke in November and their first goalless draw since the opening day of the previous season when they had drawn at home to Fulham.

However, James McArthur put Wigan back in front with fifteen minutes left and the result caused Bolton to fall a further place to nineteenth.

After four straight defeats, Bolton finally scored a win with a 2–1 victory over relegation rivals Queens Park Rangers at the Reebok Stadium a week later.

Djibril Cissé equalised for the visitors soon after the restart but substitute Ivan Klasnić scored late on to take Bolton out of the relegation zone into seventeenth place and to secure a double over the London side.

This result returned Bolton to seventeenth place after they had fallen into the relegation zone due to their midweek inactivity and gave them their first double over Blackburn since the 1977–78 season.

However, three goals in nine minutes, one from Rafael van der Vaart and a brace from Emmanuel Adebayor, gave Tottenham their first ever league win at the Reebok Stadium and left Bolton in the bottom three.

Bolton took a first half lead through a Martin Petrov penalty and looked to have secured the game when Billy Jones put the ball into his own net with less than twenty minutes remaining.

However, Chris Brunt pulled one back for the away side almost immediately and, with time running out, James Morrison scored an equaliser just before the ninety minutes were up.

A goal within the first five minutes from Kevin Davies, his first since November, and Martin Petrov set up a home tie against Swansea City in the Fourth round.

Darren Pratley's first goal for the club in first half injury time, against the team he left in the summer, equalised Luke Moore's opener for Swansea.

Goals from Ryo Miyaichi, making his first start for the club, and David Ngog took Bolton into the quarter-finals for the second successive season where they were away to Tottenham Hotspur, who won their replayed tie against Stevenage.

Former Arsenal youth player Fabrice Muamba opened the scoring early in the second half, but two quick replies from Andrei Arshavin and Park Chu-Young ensured Bolton's exit from the competition.

Three days later, Ali Al-Habsi, who had spent the previous season on loan at Wigan Athletic, joined them on a permanent basis in a deal believed to be in the region of £4million.

On 11 July 2011, young striker Danny Ward signed for Huddersfield Town for an undisclosed fee on a three-year deal, with the option of a further year.

A few days later, Bolton made their second signing of the window, bringing in free agent Nigel Reo-Coker, who had left Aston Villa following the end of the previous season.

On the final day of the transfer window, Bolton signed David Ngog from Liverpool on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee and Gaël Kakuta from Chelsea until January respectively.

Bolton replaced Cahill with another defender later in the month when they signed United States international Tim Ream from the New York Red Bulls.

Ream had been on trial with both Bolton and West Bromwich Albion in late 2011 and signed on a three-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee, believed to be £2.5 million.

On 17 March, Bolton signed free agent Gregg Wylde, subject to FIFA approval, who had left Scottish club Rangers after they went into administration and had to lay off players in order to stay in business.