CAPTAIN Kevin Nolan has hailed the team spirit at Wanderers as the best he has ever known at the club.

The midfielder helped in-form Bolton record their third victory in four games against Middlesbrough at the Riverside at the weekend.

After a rocky start to the campaign, Gary Megson’s rejuvenated side are now up to 12th in the table.

Nolan, now in his 10th season at the Reebok, believes the sense of togetherness among the players has been a major factor behind their success.

And he believes it is down to the strong British influence within the dressing room.

“This is probably the best group of lads in terms of team spirit that I’ve worked with,” said the 26-year-old. “We are such a close-knit bunch.

“The lads are so close and we all want to do really well and you can see that on a Saturday.

“There’s a lot of British players and a lot of lads who have been here for so long that getting on just comes naturally.

“But also the lads who have come in like, Johan (Elmander) and Ebi (Smolarek), have all got good personalities and that helps them mix.

“It’s a good family club and it all stems from that.”

Nolan and Co travel to struggling Sunderland, who have lost their last three home games, on Saturday.

And the skipper knows Wanderers have a great opportunity at the Stadium of Light of building on back-to-back away victories at Boro and Hull.

He said: “We’re looking forward to it and, if there is a good time to play them, then it’s now, especially with us winning away from home last week and we’ve done quite well on the road this year.

“This is probably the best time to go and play them, but there could be a backlash, so we’ve just got to go there, be cautious, play like we have been and I’m sure we’ll get the result we need.”