ON the grounds that there is no substitute for experience, Wanderers should have no problems, defensively at least, in the Premiership.

Putting it kindly, there is a certain maturity about the Bolton rearguard.

Less flatteringly, Gudni Bergsson, Colin Hendry and Co might just have to get used to being referred to as "Dad's Army".

"The average age is pretty impressive, isn't it?" Bergsson jokes at the suggestion that Wanderers will field one of the oldest defences in the top flight.

"We certainly have the experience, especially in the back line. Hopefully we can get those old legs kicking and going for at least another season or so."

In all fairness, it is going to take much more than a few sarcastic jibes to knock the Reebok old guard out of their stride.

There are enough "thirtysomethings" still cutting it at the top level - Stuart Pearce, now Kevin Keegan's first lieutenant at Manchester City, was still an inspirational figure at West Ham last season at the age of 39 - to prevent anyone having any hang-ups about his advancing years.

The greater the rewards, the greater the incentive for players to stick dilligently to the new training methods and make the sacrifices that will extend their careers beyond what was traditionally acknowledged as retirement age.

Hendry, who will be 36 in December, is as excited and enthusiastic as he was when he first set out on his adventure but knows he would not be preparing for his 19th season as a professional, if he hadn't followed a life of dedication and abstinence.

Bergsson, who has been happy enough with his own fitness and form to shelve retirement plans for a second successive year, draws encouragement from the example of veterans like Gary McAllister - a triple cup winner with Liverpool last season - and believes the seniors have much more to offer than they did in the past.

"It has changed," says the supremely fit Icelander. "Not many years back, when players hit the 30-year-old mark they were seen as being on their way out of the game and perhaps past their best.

"Now we have seen quite a few players playing their best football coming well into their thirties - McAllister last year and many more, Stuart Pearce etc. So I think, if anything, it will be a bonus for us, mixed with the young talent we've got at the club."

There are good young players littered throughout Wanderers' promotion squad with the likes of Jaaskelainen, Gardner, Farrelly, Nolan and Ricketts all now secured on long-term contracts.

Even the defensive department has an element of youth in the shape of Dean Holden and Leam Richardson - both talented 21-year-olds.

But Sam Allardyce knows the importance of a solid and reliable back-line, where experience and expertise (they are all veterans of Premiership campaigns!) will be the watchwords.

Bergsson (36), Hendry (35), Marshall (35), Whitlow (33), Warhurst (32 next month), Charlton (30 in October) and Barness (28) will all be out to prove that if you are good enough, you are young enough!