Wanderers must develop a siege mentality to sustain their Premiership existence this season.

With the squad relatively thin and money scarce Wanderers need all the help they can get to avoid relegation.

What they do not need is the mounting media offensive against them which, if it is not a concerted campaign, is doing a very good impression.

The southern media's dislike of Wanderers following Sam Allardyce's selection of weakened teams in both cup competitions at Spurs last season is well documented.

The abuse became more personal against Allardyce in Brian Reade's Daily Mirror column last Saturday when he suggested the Reebok boss might have no romance in his personal life because he has no time for the romance of the cup.

He told his national audience: "I wonder if Sam Allardyce will turn to his missus on Valentine's Day and tell her there are no red roses under his sheepskin coat? Well if his callous attitude to man's love affair with cup runs is anything to go by it certainly looks that way."

It is typical of the personal nature of the criticism being aimed at a Wanderers side whose miracles in living with the Premiership elite on a shoestring are treated more with disdain than credit outside the Bolton boundaries.

Ex-player, now TV pundit Rodney Marsh was vicious in his assassination of Ivan Campo's character and qualities as a player on Sky Sports this week.

He told his national audience on Tuesday night when Wanderers lost to Sunderland in the FA Cup: "Campo is an embarassment.

"He looks like an overweight pub player. His attitude has been bad."

Wanderers have been criticised nationwide for their policy of fielding under strength teams in the cup competitions to avoid injuries to their top players and keep them fresh and focused on the Premiership priority.

The top clubs do not attract the same kind of criticism when they rest their first team players because they carry more weight.

Wanderers, on the other hand, are regarded as lightweights in the Premiership and an easy target for criticism.

Their national critics fail to realise that Wanderers are £33 million in debt and have been told they cannot borrow any more money.

If they go down they will still be £33 million in debt with up to 22 players - including most of their top earners - shown the door because they will not be able to pay them due to the loss of almost £20 million of television income.

In that scenario they would be left as a First Division club with a team of far lesser quality and experience playing in front of 15,000 home crowds and a bank that still will not let them spend any money on players. That is the unwanted scenario looming if they are relegated but their national critics are not interested in that, only in pouring unfair, unfounded and unresearched criticism on a club they see as easy prey.

Wanderers can use this to their advantage in the last 16 games of the season by adopting a Millwall-style 'nobody likes us, we don't care' attitude.

Wanderers' greatest strength has been their team spirit in recent years and if they can turn this mounting criticism into a siege mentality, these media hatchet men could inadvertently provide a big helping hand in keeping them up.