NO one is ignoring the fact that Wanderers have their work cut out to stay in the Premier League.

In fact, some of the major players could not be more blunt in their assessment of the situation.

Witness David Wheater’s acknowledgement of what the supporters are going through.

“I can definitely understand why the fans are frustrated at the minute,” the centre half said. “They want to watch Premiership football and the way we are going, they are not going to be doing.

“We need to start picking up for them and for us.”

But, as honest and as frank as they are in their appraisals, Owen Coyle and his key personnel are unwavering in their belief that they will survive.

Even Nigel Reo-Coker, who has taken the captain’s armband in the absence of Kevin Davies, is “100 per cent” confident Wanderers will be playing Premier League football next season.

And he has been arguably the most vociferous critic of the team’s performances, most recently after Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Chelsea when he conceded they had badly let themselves down by collapsing so dramatically in the second half – describing Wanderers as “just not good enough” and admitting “we felt a bit sorry for ourselves” after conceding the first goal just after half time.

Nevertheless, the experienced midfielder is convinced Wanderers can avoid finishing in the bottom three of the five-team relegation “mini-league” that pits them against Wigan, Blackburn, QPR and Wolves in a desperate clamour for points in the remaining 12 games.

Reo-Coker is pinning his hopes on taking big points in March when, following Saturday’s trip to league leaders Manchester City, who boast a 100 per cent home record in the league over the last calendar year, Wanderers’ next three Premiership games are at home to QPR and Blackburn and away to Wolves with six of the other eight against teams in the bottom half of the table.

“There is still belief and you only have to look at the league table. It’s so tight,” Reo-Coker said.

“I’ve looked at the games coming up and I’ve called it March madness because that could be the decider for us.

“We’re playing the teams in and around us and we’ve got to be looking to get points from those games.

“We’ve got to look at it as a league of five now. I believe we can stay up and I’m 100 per cent behind that.

“But we have to take those chances when they come.”

Indeed, Reo-Coker refuses to consider the City game as a foregone conclusion, suggesting the lack of expectation could work in Wanderers’ favour.

“Yes, Manchester City is a difficult game and we’ll go there as underdogs. No one will expect us to get a result,” he added.

“Maybe that’s something we should thrive on, though, because people will be thinking we’ve got no chance of getting a result.

“We can get a win or a draw. We’re not going there to lose.”

For his part, Wheater prefers not to dwell too much on the permutations, believing Wanderers must accept their destiny is in their own hands.

“I haven’t been figuring out where the points are coming from. I’m no good at maths, so it wouldn’t do any good anyway,” he admitted.

“It’s a case of getting as many as you can. It’s not easy to look at other teams and start trying to predict what they will do, or what we need.

“We just have to go out and play to our best, like we did in the Arsenal and Liverpool games, and we’ll be okay.”