THE re-emergence of Wanderers as a Premiership force has been underlined with Sam Allardyce and three of his players earning recognition for their recent performances.

Big Sam finished seventh - one of only four Premiership bosses in the top 10 - in the Tissot League Table of Managers' Performance for the third quarter of the season.

Despite ending the month with their first defeat in 11 games, Tal Ben Haim, Gary Speed and Kevin Nolan were in the top 20 of the February Actim Index of Premiership players' performance.

Although the Whites failed to match their success of January, dropping points at home to Middlesbrough before losing 2-1 at Newcastle, they maintained their mid-winter revival with solid performances to beat Spurs and Crystal Palace and remain on course for their best ever Premiership finish - still pushing for a UEFA Cup place, with an FA Cup quarter-final clash with Arsenal in the offing.

The Actim statistics reflect the incredible impact Ben Haim has made since he stepped in for the injured Radhi Jaidi.

The 22-year-old Israeli international, poached from Maccabi Tel Aviv for a modest fee last summer, has turned in a succession of impressive performances alongside the consistent Bruno N'Gotty to help shore up a defence that was leaking goals to an alarming degree.

It is a measure of Ben Haim's importance to the side that Jaidi has been unable to force his way into the starting 11 since recovering from injury. He is ranked 15th in the Actim list with Speed 18th and Nolan 20th - placings that have earned the pair national recognition for the qualities Wanderers fans have become accustomed to.

It is the first time the Whites have had three players in the top 20.

Jussi Jaaskelainen (57th), Kevin Davies (58th), N'Gotty (75th), Speed (86th) and El-Hadji Diouf (92nd) are the best-placed Bolton players in the current Actim list for the season.

No league table could ever do justice to the job Allardyce has done for Wanderers over the last five years. But figuring as prominently as he does in the managers' league table acknowledges how he has brought stability in recent weeks after the horrors of November and December when 10 games delivered just three points.

The Tissot League was devised with the help of the League Managers' Association to allow managers from every level of league football to test themselves against one another.

Every competitive game counts towards a manager's individual score and points are awarded for victories and draws, with away results counting highest. Points are also awarded for clean sheets, goals scored, winning margins and unbeaten runs.

Brian Horton, of Division Two side Macclesfield, topped the league for the third quarter of the season with Chelsea's Jose Mourinho second and Manchester United's, Sir Alex Ferguson, third. Allardyce was joint seventh with Preston's Billy Davies.

February's Actim Top 20

Position Name Team Index

1 Wayne Rooney Man Utd 1.37

2 Andrew Johnson C Palace 0.98

3 Thierry Henry Arsenal 0.97

4 Fernando Morientes Liverpool 0.86

5 Patrick Vieira Arsenal 0.84

6 Cristiano Ronaldo Man Utd 0.83

7 Roy Keane Man Utd 0.83

8 Dennis Bergkamp Arsenal 0.81

9 Freddie Ljungberg Arsenal 0.77

10 Gabriel Heinze Man Utd 0.76

11 Juan Pablo Angel Villa 0.74

12 John O'Shea Man Utd 0.72

13 Dean Ashton Norwich 0.71

14 Damien Francis Norwich 0.70

15 Tal Ben Haim Bolton 0.70

16 Kieron Dyer Newcastle 0.70

17 Gary Neville Man Utd 0.67

18 Gary Speed Bolton 0.66

19 Paul Dickov Blackburn 0.65

20 Kevin Nolan Bolton 0.64

This season's top 10

Position Name Team Index

1 Thierry Henry Arsenal 6.88

2 Andy Johnson Palace 5.24

3 Frank Lampard Chelsea 5.07

4 John Terry Chelsea 5.01

5 Robert Pires Arsenal 4.58

6 Shaun W. Phillips Man City 4.53

7 Freddie Ljungberg Arsenal 4.51

8 Damien Duff Chelsea 4.50

9 Paul Scholes Man Utd 4.47

10 Claude Makelele Chelsea 4.44

Tissot League (third quarter)

1 Brian Horton (Macclesf'd) 149

2 Joe Mourinho (Chelsea) 147

3 Sir Alex Ferguson (Man Utd) 146

4 Gary Johnson (Yeovil) 142

5 Paul Sturrock (Sheff Wed) 138

6 Brian Little (Tranmere) 133

7 Sam Allardyce (Bolton W) 129

7 Billy Davies (Preston) 129

9 Steve Tilson (Southend) 124

9 Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) 124