DEAN Holdsworth says the pain of defeat has been the key to Wanderers' Premiership survival.

Forty points - not enough to beat the drop four years ago - has secured a second season of top flight football for Sam Allardyce and his players, whose safety was assured last weekend when Manchester United won at Ipswich.

Comparisons are difficult but Holdsworth, who played in that 1997-98 season, says the hard-edged approach of the current squad has made all the difference.

"It hurts when you lose," he explained. "I don't mean that in any detrimental way to anybody who was here before, I really don't. But we used to lose by the odd goal and it never seemed to hurt.

"We'd say we were unlucky and I don't think when we went down it really hurt us that much. It did finally but I don't think defeats hurt us all the way through the season.

"Now it's different. The manager has given us a different philosophy. He wants to defend first and foremost and we have defended much better than last time.

"That's shown in our much better away record. The wins and the confidence we've had away from home has come from playing the 4-5-1 system. It's not the best system for me, personally, but it really does work well for us and I've learned to live with it."

Holdsworth believes the addition of quality players - notably French World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff - strengthened the squad considerably and paid handsome dividends.

"A lot of quality has come into the squad and that's only happened because we've been in the Premier League," he acknowledged.

"If you'd said two years ago that we'd have had Youri Djorkaeff in our squad we'd have laughed our heads off. There is some good quality here now. Bruno N'Gotty has come in and done really well, in fact all the players who have come in and the players who were here already have adapted very well."

Gudni Bergsson, a veteran of the ill-fated 95-96 Premiership campaign, was also in the 97-98 relegated on goal difference when they lost 2-0 at Chelsea on the last day of the season. He says Wanderers laid the foundation for survival this time with their sensational start.

"That played a big part," the captain acknowledged. "It gave us a lot of confidence and we were able to build on that until we hit our sticky patch, as most teams do. You don't go through a season and have it all your own way and that was certainly the case for us. We found it difficult to win games for quite a few weeks. We were drawing too many - like we did last time - but that good start stood us in good stead."

Bergsson shared the joy of survival success with the supporters who set a record Reebok crowd for the Arsenal game on Monday.

"They were so happy and so relieved that we had stayed up because they have been with us through thick and thin, supporting us greatly in difficult times when we were losing form and, perhaps, not performing as well at home as we would have liked. So a lot of credit has to go to them."

Bergsson speaks enthusiastically about Wanderers' future, suggesting he might again decide to postpone his retirement and give the Premiership another fling. But he laughs at being picked up on the point.

"I'm a Boltonian now so whether I go or whether I stay, I'll still be thinking about 'us'." says the Icelander.

"It's just great to be in this position. I'm looking forward to next season, whether it be as a player or as a fan!"