THE power of television has made the rest of the Premier League sit up and take notice of the Boys from Burnden.

Marked down for an instant return to the Endsleigh League ever since Bruce Rioch's shock June departure, Wanderers believe they did enough in last night's Sky spectacular to earn the respect of their rivals.

Now Colin Todd has issued an open invitation to the cameras. "I told the Sky people before the game that we were beginning to feel our feet in the Premier League and that they would be impressed when they saw us play.

"Maybe we should get them here more often!"

The reception was as warm as he had expected but Rioch's hopes of a happy homecoming were wrecked good and proper with Keith Branagan foiling the Gunners' multi-million pound international strikeforce while John McGinlay became the first player to beat David Seaman in seven hours.

How ironic that two of his favourite old boys - his first two Bolton signings - should put such a major dent in his title ambitions.

Make no bones about it, Arsenal are sorely wounded after suffering only their second Premiership defeat of the season while Wanderers' stock has been raised considerably. McGinlay certainly believes so. "Nobody gave us an earthly," said the Burnden hero as he savoured the moment of the 35th minute matchwinner.

"Hopefully this is the kick-start we needed. It should make us go into the next game with confidence in our own ability and, maybe, people will now stop having a go at the team. "

Branagan admits Wanderers had to ride their luck to record their second Premiership win and their first clean sheet. But he maintains that was no more than they deserved.

"That result has been coming for a while and it was nice for something to go our way for a change - even though we had to really fight for it," said the keeper who was undisputed Man of the Match. "Hopefully it will be the springboard that will help us get another, and another..."

No fair assessment of the game would be complete without highlighting Arsenal's woeful finishing. Ian Wright and Nigel Winterburn missed absolute sitters while the statistics that illustrated the Gunners' overall dominance also highlighted their squanderings - 24 attempts on goal, only eight on target. But take nothing away from Wanderers. They started positively, reverting to the 4-4-2 formation that won them fame and fortune during Rioch's three-year reign, and gave David Lee yet another chance to live up to the reputation he set for himself at Anfield in January 93. He didn't disappoint, setting the tone for a first half Todd regards as the best Wanderers have played this season.

Lee gave Winterburn a chasing for the first half hour and raised the tempo of the game to a level that was the hallmark of the performances Rioch recalls made his side one of the most feared of all giant-killers. This time he was on the receiving end and Arsenal were denied a chance to go back to third in the table.

It must have hurt but he didn't show it as he paid tribute to his old team. "I said before the game that Bolton's best form of defence is attack and that's how they played it.

"They set their stall out, got the goal at a critical time and then hung on. Good for them. That's what you've got to do sometimes and they've done it well."

Recent performances have offered crumbs of comfort, reasons to be encouraged, but without the points that matter. Wanderers now have something to show for it.

The improvements witnessed in the QPR, Everton and Forest games are seen in a better light after this win and they will go to Manchester City on Saturday with genuine confidence. They will also go with a new recruit of genuine quality in their ranks.

Sasa Curcic lasted 73 minutes of his debut before giving way to a slight groin strain. But in that time the 23-year-old Yugoslav international, who rates Johann Cruyff as his inspiration and has been signed to replace Jason McAteer, who was watching from the stand, looks good value at £1.5 million.

He had a magnficent first touch, collecting the ball cleanly and confidently before delivering a pinpoint 30 yard pass, then - clearly undaunted by reputations - made his presence felt with a biting tackle on Dennis Bergkamp, who quite frankly was a big disappointment.

Curcic continued in the same quality vein and only an outstanding save by David Seaman denied him a debut goal. "It was a brilliant strike," McGinlay said in admiration of his new teammate, "I actually thought he'd palmed it into the roof of the net."

Seaman was beaten by the one that mattered, though. McGinlay, looking more menacing than at any time this season, had almost caught the England man unawares with a snapshot on the turn. But, when he took Alan Stubbs' most searching pass of the game in his stride and bisected Martin Keown and Tony Adams, the rest was down to natural finishing. From that moment, it was an uphill battle for Wanderers. After their exciting opening, they lost the initiative and were forced onto the back foot. All too often they squandered valuable possession with erratic, sometimes downright careless distribution. And back came Arsenal.

With Paul Merson and the impressive Glenn Helder around, they always posed a threat. But Wright and Bergkamp were kept relatively quiet by Chris Fairclough and Gudni Bergsson, who are fashioning a solid, experienced partnership and deserve a large slice of the credit for the clean sheet Wanderers have every right to be proud of.

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