SAM Allardyce is threatening to wield the axe in the wake of the defeat that left Wanderers rock bottom of the Premiership.

Defenders are likely to bear the brunt of the manager's wrath as he looks for a winning formula after seeing his side take just one point from five games since the memorable win at Old Trafford on September 11.

"Inevitably, I will have to look at the whole situation," Allardyce admitted today as he tried to come to terms with life at the bottom. "If I'm forced to make changes, I'll make them.

"You want to keep a settled side and play the side that's in good form and playing well together - and overall we're not playing that badly, as we know. But I think the situation now warrants a few changes."

Desperate to find a way of hoisting Wanderers away from the relegation zone as quickly as possible, Allardyce is hoping to shore up a once-reliable defence that was so ruthlessly exposed in yesterday's 3-1 defeat at Spurs.

And with Paul Warhurst fit again and Bruno N'Gotty back in full training, he has options available as he prepares for a run of three successive games against fellow strugglers, starting with Sunderland at the Reebok next Monday then Birmingham away and West Brom at home.

"They have got themselves fit and they are good, defensively-minded players," the manager said of Warhurst and N'Gotty. "We will work with them this week and they may have to come into the frame and be heavily considered for selection against Sunderland."

Well beaten at Middlesbrough in their previous Premiership outing, Wanderers produced a much-improved performance at White Hart Lane but that was no consolation to Allardyce, who rapped: "I've been saying for some time that it's about results not performances." And he made it clear which players will be under threat when he ran the rule over his back line - Anthony Barness, Gudni Bergsson, Mike Whitlow and Simon Charlton - and said pointedly: "The back four in general are the old stagers and they've done remarkably well for us in the past but they are looking a little bit edgy at the moment.

"That's my biggest concern and that's perhaps why a Paul Warhurst or a Bruno N'Gotty will have to step in there and try to shore that department up.

"The rest of the lads in front have their responsibilities but the back four has to look solid as a unit and if they had been yesterday, Tottenham would not have got the goals they got."