STUART Pearce says Wanderers have provided the blueprint for what he wants from his Manchester City side.

The Blues boss hailed the Whites as a yardstick of consistency ahead of Saturday's Premiership derby at the Reebok.

Pearce has seen his side win their last three league games after losing the previous three to leave themselves in tenth.

The last game they lost was at home to Wanderers when they slipped to within touching distance of the relegation zone.

Such is City's unpredictability that, three weeks later, they are 11 points clear of the bottom three and 10 adrift of the Champions League places.

Pearce admits his side's inconsistency is its biggest drawback and believes they should be trying to emulate Wanderers on that score.

He said: "I look across town at Bolton and there's a consistent level there.

"When you turn up to play against Bolton, their players and the team as a collective consistently give seven out of 10 performances and we need to unlock a bit of that.

"The one thing that has pleased me about my players is that they do have character, they will stand up.

"When I've had to speak to them at half time in games, I have had a reaction every time. I find it difficult to remember a time when I haven't had a reaction.

"I like that about the team, the touch of inconsistency I don't like, and we'll get better on that, that's for sure.

"There's more ability within our dressing room than we are showing and we need to unlock that on a more consistent basis."

His assistant, Steve Wigley, also poured praise on Wanderers as City bucked the national trend of looking down on the Reebok men's achievements.

Sam Allardyce said in his magazine column that he was used to people not giving them credit for their achievements and that, because they are Bolton, they never would get it.

But City have piled it on with Wigley and defender, Nedum Onuoha, full of praise for Saturday's opponents.

"I think they are a very resilient side and people don't give them enough credit," said Wigley.

"It's a local derby and everything that a local derby brings we have to make sure turns up with us on Saturday.

"They are a good side, they are well organised, well disciplined and people forget they have some flare players up front.

"Nicolas Anelka, (pictured), on any given day, can do anything that he wants. He's that big of a talent."

Onuoha, who has played in the City defence which has conceded just one goal in the last three games, said: "Bolton are a very good team and they work hard for each other and they are very hard to beat otherwise they wouldn't be where they are now.

"They are on a roll and teams on a roll are sometimes very hard to stop."