STRIKING the balance between confidence and complacency will be the key to Wanderers staying the pace in the Premiership.

Sam Allardyce and his players have been buoyed by their incredible start to the season but they go to Spurs tonight, knowing they still have a long way to go before they can breathe easy.

"We've got ourselves into a magnificent position," the manager accepts, "and it's nice to be where we are because it keeps the pressure off the players - not the pressures of playing in the Premiership but the wrong type of pressure, the pressure of being in the bottom six.

"And the longer they stay up there, the better they'll cope and the more good results they'll achieve. We've got this far and we're all determined not to let it slip.

"I am wary, however, of the fact that people think we are going to survive. But we are a long way off that.

"At any given time, the situation could slip from one (safety) to the other (danger) very quickly."

Rod Wallace, no stranger to the Premiership, says it is vital they keep the momentum going into the build up to Christmas. "We're not going to be complacent," says the former Southampton, Leeds and Glasgow Rangers striker. "We know how hard the Premier League is going to be and we'll have to work hard to stay where we are."

Wanderers flew to London this morning - the mode of transport they chose when they claimed a point at Arsenal in September - determined to start collecting the second half of the points they set as their survival target.

"At the start of the season we said we needed 40 points," Ricardo Gardner confirmed, drawing comfort from the 20-point return from the first 14 fixtures. "Now we're halfway there and we're not yet half way through the season.

"Hopefully we can keep it going and stay in the top half of the table."

Wanderers know they face a stern test of their widely-admired away form from a Spurs side playing with some of their traditional style and swagger since Teddy Sheringham returned to North London.

Gardner admits it will be a tall order to put a spoke in Glenn Hoddle's wheel but summed up the mood in the Reebok camp when he said: "It's going to be a difficult game but the lads are confident of going there and getting a point or three."

Allardyce will choose between Nicky Southall, Gareth Farrelly and Jermaine Johnson in place of the suspended Paul Warhurst in midfield.