DEAN Holdsworth is losing his fight to be fit for Wanderers' do-or-die battle for survival at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

The record signing, who scored his third goal for the club as substitute in the 5-2 thrashing of Crystal Palace, has aggravated a hamstring injury and is struggling to be fit to face Chelsea.

But loan star Bob Taylor - the man he replaced in that Palace romp - is responding to treatment for his hamstring problem and looks set to get the all-clear, justifying Colin Todd's decision to withdraw him at the first sign of injury.

The Wanderers boss said: "At this stage it's looking as though Dean may not be in the equation but I'm expecting Bob to be okay."

Only player-boss Gianluca Vialli knows what the Chelsea line-up will be, with speculation rife that he could field an under-strength side to save his stars for the Cup Winners' Cup final against Stuttgart just three days later.

Gianfranco Zola, Michael Duberry, Andy Myers, Dennis Wise and Frank Sinclair are all doubtful, although defender Frank Leboeuf showed no signs of an ankle knock he picked up last weekend at Newcastle when he played in goalkeeper Kevin Hitchcock's testimonial game on Wednesday night.

And full-back Graeme Le Saux, who missed the Newcastle game through injury, insisted: "I'm hoping to play against Bolton and I'm sure we'll put out as strong a side as we can."

The Bolton players are refusing to blame referee Stephen Lodge for the error he made in September which has brought the season to such a dramatic and ironic finale.

But for a mistake by the Barnsley official in the first fixture at the Reebok - against Everton - the Merseysiders would already be relegated and Wanderers would be safe.

Television replays showed that a header from Gerry Taggart crossed the line. The game ended in a goalless draw, but had Wanderers won, their Premiership status would now be assured and Everton would already be contemplating Merseyside derbies against Tranmere.

Taggart, though, is not one to dwell on what might have been. "If you go down, your mind always goes back to games which didn't go your way and which you should have won or drawn," he said.

"I suppose that could be one of them it was seven or eight months ago and at this stage of the season all I'm thinking about is Sunday's game against Chelsea."

Top scorer Nathan Blake, who had a close-up view of the "goal that never was" says: "We've had plenty of time since then to turn things round. It's not an issue as far as we are concerned."

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