Walker had attracted major publicity after his on-pitch confrontation with a spectator during the 5-0 hammering by Aston Villa in the previous match at the Walkers Stadium.

This time the England ‘keeper somehow managed to turn an innocuous toe-poke from Kevin Davies into an equaliser for Bolton as he allowed the ball to slip under his body and hit his leg before crossing the line.

It was the kind of cruel luck that has blighted Leicester during a dismal run without a win which has now been extended to 11 league matches.

Leicester manager Micky Adams had employed the services of an amateur sports psychologist in the build-up to the game after he had turned up unannounced at the training ground on Monday.

It remains to be seen whether his influence had the desired effect but the Foxes certainly did not appear to be lacking in confidence after their recent dismal run.

They were more than a match for their high-riding opponents with Les Ferdinand again defying his 37 years as he led the home attack superbly while Lilian Nalis had one of more effective games in midfield.

But Bolton showed they have no intention of taking their foot off the pedal despite reaching the Carling Cup final and they were full of their normal resolution, although lacking some of their usual sparkle.

Bolton started promisingly and Walker did well to block a close range effort from Youri Djorkaeff after an Ivan Campo free-kick had evaded the Foxes defenders.

Then a flick from Davies allowed Henrik Pedersen a clear run at goal but he drove his shot well wide from the angle of the penalty area.

The best Leicester could manage in reply during this early onslaught was a long range dipping Steffen Freund volley which flew just over Jussi Jaaskelainen’s crossbar.

But after 16 minutes Ferdinand, who is delaying a knee operation until the summer to help City’s cause, put them ahead with his 10th goal of the campaign.

Riccardo Scimeca’s right-wing cross picked out the 37-year-old whose header may have been over the line before it was parried by Jaaskelainen.

But Ferdinand made absolutely sure by smashing home the rebound.

Bolton still looked dangerous most times they mounted an attack and Campo sent a glancing header past the post from a Djorkaeff corner.

Leicester were almost caught out by a free-kick from Djorkaeff to the far post which was misjudged by Walker and he was relieved to see Kevin Nolan side-foot his shot against the outside of a post.

But then came the glaring error by Walker which presented Bolton with an equaliser after 31 minutes.

Davies got the end of a Djorkaeff free-kick but only toe-poked his effort towards the ‘keeper.

Walker looked to have the situation under control but he somehow managed to allow the ball to squirm from his grasp and hit his leg before rolling over the line for an own goal.

Leicester tried to retaliate and Ferdinand was within inches of applying the finishing touch to a Steve Guppy drive which flew across the face of goal before James Scowcroft came on for the injured Marcus Bent after 36 minutes

Paul Dickov had the ball in the net in the 38th minute but he had strayed marginally offside when meeting a knockdown from Ferdinand.

Then Nalis had a shot from the edge of the area deflected inches past the post with Jaaskelainen scrambling across his line.

Leicester began the second half brightly and Scowcroft came close to giving them the lead within a minute of the restart.

Ferdinand won the ball in the air under pressure from Bruno N’Gotty and flicked it on to Scowcroft who turned and fired a fierce left-footed drive just over the bar.

At the other end Riccardo Scimeca put in a fine saving tackle at the expense of a corner to deny Pedersen as he was about to shoot.

But Leicester had the momentum with them and Jaaskelainen went down low to his left to push a Dickov drive around the post from Guppy’s short corner.

Ben Thatcher was yellow carded after a challenge on Pedersen and his fifth caution of the campaign will mean he will miss Leicester’s crucial encounter with Wolves at the end of the month.