AT the risk of repeating himself, Ian Porterfield is determined to help breathe new life into Wanderers' Premiership dream.

"Football is all about repeat, repeat, repeat!" says the new Wanderers coach, whose arrival has sparked a mini-revival.

The former Chelsea manager has come in for high praise, significantly from Colin Todd, after helping mastermind successive wins and back-to-back clean sheets since his appointment in the wake of Roy McFarland's sacking.

But he insists on handing the major share of the credit to the players whose progress in the FA Cup and the Premier League has inspired a marked upturn in confidence.

"Colin and I have sat down and worked things out together," he explains, "but the wins against Bradford and Wimbledon were all about the players. They've been absolutely magnificent." Porterfield's praise isn't prompted by false modesty, rather an express wish to share the credit round. The seeds of the improvement - much needed it must be said - have been sown on the training ground, where he and Todd have instilled in their players a determination to become a hard team to beat.

"Wimbledon, for instance, have been a thorn in most teams' sides," he points out, "so Colin and I went over and over the way we wanted to play against them.

"The encouraging thing is that the lads went out and did their jobs. And the response from the supporters was fantastic. I really felt they responded to what the players were doing. "There were a lot of pluses that came out of the wins against Bradford and Wimbledon and they shouldn't be ignored. We still have improvements to make but the response so far has been very encouraging."

Kind words from the ring-master but the 'practise makes perfect' philosophy means hard sessions ahead for the Bolton players as they fight for their Premiership lives.

"I've seen the Brazilian coaches in action and although they have superb talent they are hard workers as well!" he says ominously.

Porterfield fashioned his management skills at Rotherham, Sheffield United, Reading, Chelsea and Aberdeen before the job offers dried up and he was recruited by the Zambian National side. It was his impressive work in helping them recover from the tragedy of the 1993 aircrash that wiped out the entire national squad to reach the final of the African Nations Cup that prompted a top Saudi Arabian club to take him to the Middle East. "Going abroad was a good experience for me," he says. "I always thought I had a lot to offer clubs here but sometimes, when you work abroad, it's difficult to get back into the country.

"I was always waiting for the right job to come along and it has. I've always considered Bolton an exceptionally nice club. It reminds me a lot of Aberdeen , where it was always homely and friendly.

"We've got a big hill to climb but in our position we've got to put one or two results together and start getting points on the board.

"Confidence is good considering we're down at the bottom. The players did well at Bradford and they carried that on against Wimbledon."

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