SAM Allardyce is banking on the trademarks of character and resilience to put Wanderers back on the Premiership points trail.

Every setback suffered over the course of his 26-month reign has brought a positive reaction and, after successive defeats at Spurs and Derby, the manager is confident Charlton will feel the backlash at the Reebok tomorrow.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said, "because in my time here, we've always come back fighting when we've needed to get a result."

Fighting spirit is a quality that has served Wanderers well since Allardyce arrived in October 1999. They were consistently written off in his first season - notably when they lost to Tranmere in the semi-final of the Worthington Cup and were deeply wounded when they lost a penalty shoot-out to Aston Villa at Wembley in the semi-final of the FA Cup.

When Ipswich made it a hat-trick in the semi-finals of the Play-offs it knocked the stuffing out of the manager and his players. But they came back even stronger, defying the odds to reach the Promised Land of the Premiership, only to face more searching tests of their resolve - all of which they have passed.

Their first defeat, at home to Southampton, was followed by successive draws at Blackburn and Arsenal; they responded to the crushing 4-0 home defeat by Newcastle by winning impressively at Manchester United then, after losing at Aston Villa, they notched important points with victory at Ipswich sandwiched between home draws against Everton and Fulham.

Hence the manager's determination to keep a sense of proportion.

"It gives the game a little bit more importance because we've lost two Premiership games on the trot, whether we deserved the defeats or not," he acknowledged ahead of the duel with Alan Curbishley's Addicks. "It throws a bit more pressure on us to get a positive result.

"We're down on our schedule now, we know that, but we hit our last target by winning away at Manchester United - and nobody expected that!"

For all the confidence and determination of the manager and his players, the fact remains that they have failed to register a Premiership win at the Reebok since beating Liverpool on August 27 and, anxious to put that right, Wanderers have been working this week on a fresh approach, although Allardyce is not saying whether it involves a change of system or personnel ... or both.

And he has not totally discounted the events of Tuesday night when the "shadow" squad crashed 6-0 at Spurs in the quarter-finals of the Worthington Cup.

"Tuesday was finished half an hour back on the bus," he insisted, underlining his indifference towards the competition, "but one or two of them, under very difficult circumstances, went right through to the end and didn't let it affect their game."

Whatever line-up he goes for tomorrow, Allardyce is sure to recall Gudni Bergsson, Paul Warhurst, Simon Charlton and Kevin Nolan, who did not even figure in the squad at White Hart Lane.

qWanderers goalkeeper Steve Banks was set to move to Rochdale today on a one month's loan deal.