FERNANDO Hierro's Reebok adventure might well prove to be an all-too-brief one but the Spaniard is sure to leave a lasting legacy at Wanderers.

After a stuttering start, he has become a major influence on the field with imperious performances that have given Wanderers a vital edge in crucial games. But his work on the field is just the tip of the iceberg.

By their own admission, Kevin Nolan, Nicky Hunt and Tal Ben Haim have all benefited from just having trained with the former Real Madrid captain.

All three have watched, listened to and learned from the legendary Galactico, who has been only too willing to advise players he believes have the potential to be the stars of the future.

"These players have something very important," said the 37-year-old role model. "The fact that they are young makes them extremely important to Bolton Wanderers.

"These youngsters have lots of scope for a great future here and they are so very fortunate. They can and should spend their youth putting in as big performances as possible for Bolton to see where that should lead them.

"But they have all got very bright futures."

Like the true legend he is, Hierro is only too pleased to give something back to the game that has given him so much during his glittering 14-year career at the Bernabeu. Yet he still gives the appearance of an excited schoolboy as he expresses his gratitude to Wanderers for giving him the chance to play in mainstream football again after his year of "exile" in Qatar.

"The Premiership is fantastic," he said, sounding surprised that the English league could live up to his expectations.

"I'm very pleased to have taken the decision to come to Bolton. The atmosphere at the matches is tremendous and I am very, very pleased to be here.

"I will remember my times at Bolton with enormous affection. It's fantastic here."

Hierro has hinted that he could be persuaded to extend his Reebok stay when his contract expires in May, if he has the incentive of playing in Europe with Wanderers next season.

His eyes light up at the suggestion that he could be playing against Real at the Bernabeu - but Sam Allardyce is enough of a realist to accept that, legends or not, players cannot go on forever.

He is just pleased to have a player with such class and experience to call on at such a crucial stage of the season and, for the time being, is looking no further than the next game.

"I signed him because of his great experience and technical ability and the chance that he might do us for five, 10 or maybe 15 games," the Wanderers boss said. "The contract reflected that.

"I'm delighted we've got more out of him than we thought we would, and he's got more out of it than he thought and that's great.

"He needed to challenge himself, to find out whether he could produce it in this league, having spent all his career at one of the most famous clubs of all time.

"That can make you a little insular. But I think his spells in Qatar and here in this country with us has opened and expanded his mind, as a human being and not just as a footballer, and he's benefited from that.

"He's needed a period of adjustment, which is no surprise. It doesn't matter where you come from or what you've done, it's not easy to make the adjustment to Premiership football.

"But he's adjusted now and managed to cope. Central defender was not going to be his position in the Premiership because of his lack of pace, which was always going to be exposed, but he's ended up in that position (holding midfield) and done extremely well.

"Unfortunately it throws his good pal (Ivan Campo) into a little bit of discontent because that was his role, but he should realise that somebody else has come along who can produce equally as good, if not better than he can at this moment."