KEVIN Nolan has laughed off claims that Wanderers are "the new Wimbledon", describing the detractors as "a joke" and insists that nothing the pundits say will knock them out of their Premiership stride.

"We revel in it," Nolan said defiantly. "It has to be a joke doesn't it? All you have to do is take a look around the squad and the quality players like Ivan Campo, Fernando Hierro and Jay Jay Okocha.

"Then you hear the 'new Wimbledon' label and, well, you have a laugh don't you.

"I put the radio on after we had beaten Manchester City and gone sixth the other week and there was some guy on asking 'How bad is the Premier League this year if Bolton are sixth?'

"Comments like that are just embarrassing, not for us but for the people who are saying them."

Wanderers re-emergence as serious contenders for Europe has attracted a fresh wave of attacks from pundits who poured scorn on their methods earlier in the season, accusing Sam Allardyce of employing "route one" tactics and using spearhead striker, Kevin Davies, to physically intimidate opponents.

Nolan's response is to point to the league table that shows Wanderers sixth, one point behind Liverpool and only five behind Everton who currently occupy the fourth Champions League place.

"When I hear about that sort of thing I love it, I really do," the midfield ace said. "To me it means we must be doing something right.

"When you hear some of the things said on the radio and television and read what is printed in the press, it's just embarrassing.

"My immediate response to anyone who has a go at us is always the same. I tell them all to have a look at the league table. We're always being told the league table doesn't lie.

"As for why it happens, I don't know. I suppose Bolton is just an unfashionable club or something.

"But it is not the sort of thing that is going to bother me or any of the players. We are happy with the way we play the game and the position we are in the table.

"There is a suggestion that we are a very physical side . But that's a joke too.

"Anyone who saw us against Arsenal at the Reebok in the league knows we played football against them and beat them.

"We don't have to play physical football to win games. We are not a team that goes out to intimidate the opposition.

"We can mix it and change the way we play to suit a particular opponent or game situation.

"We know we can play. We knows we can scrap. We know we can mix it when we need to.

"We know we can tackle and we know we can work when we need to.

"What we always try to do is play winning football."

Wanderers are determined to have the last laugh on their critics by finishing strongly and booking themselves a European place.

"If we were to get into Europe, it wouldn't matter what anyone, anywhere said or wrote about the club," Nolan added.

"Bolton Wanderers would have fully deserved to be in Europe because in our league you finish where you deserve to finish.

"And I don't think we would settle for being one-season wonders. Our aim would be to try and get into Europe every season."