KEITH Hill admits he was “very hurt” by his Bolton Wanderers exit this year as he led his new club to a convincing 3-0 win at the UniBol.

Just 190 days after it was announced by the Whites that Hill’s contract would not be renewed for this season, he sat as the victorious manager on Saturday evening in the colours of rivals Tranmere Rovers.

Goals from Peter Clarke, Kieron Morris and a James Vaughan penalty had earned the Birkenhead men a surprisingly comfortable three points and left Wanderers boss Ian Evatt at a loss to explain his team’s inconsistency.

For Boltonian, Hill, however, there may have been a touch of personal vindication, having seen his time in charge cut short during the lockdown, with the club seeking a “fresh approach and management structure.”

Asked if he felt any extra satisfaction from the result, given the way things had ended, the 51-year-old said: “Just let sleeping dogs lie, that’s me. I don’t get emotionally involved.

“I felt very hurt, I must admit. But that’s it.

“It isn’t for me to get involved, emotionally. There is a lot of debate and opinions, nobody actually really knows the facts. Like I say, I prefer to keep my counsel, as I have done when I left Barnsley, when I left Rochdale, it’s the way business should work.

“There are too many people who offer opinions and fake news.”

Asked if he had learned anything more about management in the 14 months since he and David Flitcroft had first been installed by Bolton’s new owners, Football Ventures, following their takeover, he added: “I can’t really express to the press what I have learned. It’s very personal.

“I am best served doing the job that I am doing now for Tranmere, from my learnings.”

Hill went into 2020 refusing to give up hope on keeping Bolton in League One – but soon found himself in the middle of a change in structure, with Tobias Phoenix installed as the head of football operations.

Last week, Wanderers confirmed that Phoenix had stepped down from his role and that Ian Evatt’s job title would be changed from head coach to manager, reflecting his greater say in the football department.

Hill was offered the chance to comment on Phoenix’s departure, adding: “I think it’s a question that should be posed to the people who employed me. It’s as simple as that. I have got no axe to grind.

“I am from Bolton, though, and the bigger impact of what happened to me at Bolton was on my family, not me.”