NORWICH boss Nigel Worthington is preparing his players for the fight of their lives - to stay in the Premiership.

The Ulsterman knows his bottom of the table side's survival chances are slim, but no one can accuse him of not talking a good fight.

He reckoned his team had "four or five great chances" to score, compared to Bolton's "half a chance", conveniently forgetting the shot from Candela that smacked against the crossbar, the great save from Green to keep out Fernando Hierro's goalbound piledriver, and the couple of goal-line clearances by his under pressure defence in the first half.

"I've got to give my players credit. They stuck to the task and competed. They know Bolton's a hard place to come to, but they stood up to the challenge and played some decent football at times as well.

"Bolton's goal wasn't down to a mistake by us either. It was just a great finish by Stelios."

Yet Worthington was honest enough to admit that only wins will be good enough to save them.

"At this stage, not even a point is good enough, you need wins, but the spirit is there, the attitude is good, and we will keep going to the final whistle.

"We won't give up the fight until it's mathematically impossible. You know what this game's like. We'll stick at it, keep believing in it and see what happens. We've got two easy games to get six points coming up next - we've got Arsenal away and Manchester United at home.

"Seriously though, these games are what the Premiership is all about. Okay, we've lost this game, but as long as my players keep the spirit, keep fighting like we did today, then regardless what happens at the end of the season, I'll be a happy man.

"And I'll make sure they will have fire in their bellies for the remaining matches."