PHIL Parkinson refused to believe Wanderers had stayed up until he’d checked the TV.

After the final whistle sounded on an incredible 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest, the Bolton boss disappeared down the tunnel to check the scores before celebrating.

Defeats for Barnsley at Derby and Burton at Preston helped confirm Wanderers’ place in the division next year.

“It’s a dream,” said Parkinson. “After the game, me and Steve Parkin embraced each other and he said ‘we’ve done it!” I just said ‘are you absolutely sure?’ “I couldn’t count my chickens. I know I those situations you can celebrate and it’s not really done.

“I wanted to run down the tunnel and see it with my own eyes. The minute I put the TV on I could see the shots were of our fans celebrating on the pitch and that Burton and Barnsley had gone down.”

Parkinson says securing survival felt better than last season's promotion from League One because the odds had been so heavily stacked against Wanderers.

"Everyone knows what we have been competing against this season," he said. But sometimes you have got to produce when the pressure is on, and we did that today."