FRENCH defender Florent Laville - unknown in England before being brought in on loan from Lyon in January - is being hailed as the key to Wanderers' recent run of form.

"One of the reasons we are becoming harder to score against is Florent Laville," the manager said, eulogising over the defender he signed unseen. "Since he stepped into the team against Manchester United for his first game, we have looked a very good defensive unit.

"Two clean sheets on the trot have brought us two very important victories; three more clean sheets will definitely keep us in the Premiership."

Despite the euphoria - Allardyce praised the Reebok crowd for their support, especially in the second half, while Okocha acknowledged the fans as Wanderers' "12th man" - it is still tight at the relegation end of the table, prompting almost daily re-appraisals of the safety targets.

While he had suggested 38 points might be enough, the manager has revised his assessment in the light of Birmingham, West Ham and Wanderers all hitting form in recent weeks.

"Thirty-eight is the bare minimum but the only guaranteed figure is 41 because nobody's ever gone down with 41," he now acknowledges. "Three teams have gone down with 40 points - including ourselves (1997-98) - and the way we and West Ham are going it might well be that we'll need 40 or above again."