RADIO Five Live listeners can be forgiven for having a laugh at Wanderers' expense at 5 o'clock last Saturday. Not only had they just been given the shock result from the Reebok - bottom of the table having soundly beaten second - they will also have heard Colin Todd put on the spot in a pre-match interview when he agreed that the game was a "home banker".

Things you wish you'd never said . . .

But, in fairness to the Bolton boss, BEN readers will recall he'd been in cautious not cocky mood all week. In fact, he was warning against over-confidence and complacency in his post-match interviews at Birmingham six days earlier.

Far from describing the game as a "home banker" - even though the bookies were quoting Wanderers as the hottest favourites in the country - he warned it would be no walkover and said his players faced a "real battle" and had to make sure they didn't fall flat on their faces.

The fact that they did, in no uncertain terms, and suffered defeat again at Huddersfield four days later means the pressure really will be on at Swindon tomorrow.

And once again, Todd is telling it like it is.

"Every game is important . . ." he begins, suggesting he's about to drift into manager-speak, "and we go into every game looking to win. "But there's more in this particular one because of what's happened over the past week.

"It just shows how quickly situations can change. We've lost two games and suddenly found ourselves adrift!

"We've got to make sure we aren't adrift for too long."

His mood is one of confidence and optimism. He's rarely any different, of course, but in the light of the improved and encouraging performance at the McAlpine Stadium on Tuesday night, his words have a more convincing ring about them.

But the burning question is whether the players can overcome the double disappointment, refuse to be deterred by the ineptness of their display against Crewe and the injustice of the Huddersfield result, and put the pressure back on Ipswich and Bradford. Both spurted ahead in the race for the second automatic promotion place while Sunderland marched on relentlessly. Top priority, having conceded six goals in two games after having let in just five in their previous 14, will be a clean sheet. They can ill afford to return to the bad habits they were in during the early stages of the season when, by their own admission, they struggled to adjust to First Division football.

If they can arrest the slide and make home advantage count against Barnsley and QPR next week, they could be back on track just as quickly as they were derailed.

But, as they discovered to their cost a week ago, there are no easy games.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.