SAM Allardyce insists that his happy Wanderers have what it takes to win the battle for Premiership survival.

The Bolton boss has never doubted his players' ability but he also believes they have the character as well as the class to handle the pressures of relegation.

"A great deal can happen in the last five games and we have to be prepared for every scenario," he warned ahead of Saturday's Reebok showdown with West Ham.

"We will be up for the fight and my lads know the importance of survival, which I firmly believe will stand us in good stead."

Allardyce has already responded to suggestions that his "League of Nations" may not fully appreciate the seriousness of the current situation by pointing out that all-foreign teams won three games in a row against Sunderland, Spurs and Manchester City.

He also believes the experience of a near-identical situation when they beat Ipswich to effectively secure their survival last season will also be to Wanderers' advantage.

Nevertheless, he is so determined to shield his players from the mounting pressures of a sell-out fixture that he has toned down his previous pre-match comments, acknowledging that nothing will be decided this weekend - whatever the result.

"The media have done their bit in building the game up to be the biggest of the season for ourselves and West Ham but it's no bigger than last week's at Chelsea," he suggested. "Win, draw or lose, we will still be in a relegation battle."

It could be all over bar the shouting if Wanderers manage to take maximum points over Easter but they know they face in-form opponents in Glenn Roeder's Hammers on Saturday and Graeme Souness' Blackburn Rovers in Monday's derby showdown at Ewood Park.

"A win on Saturday would take us six points clear of the relegation zone with four matches to go but this weekend is going to be tough," Allardyce admitted.

"We have two games in three days and both matches will be difficult.

"But the players will be treating these games in the same way as every other match this season.

"There's no question West Ham will be up for it and on Monday, going to Ewood Park will be daunting prospect against a Blackburn side currently the form team of the Premiership with a UEFA Cup spot in their sights.

"But our overall objective is to get to the 41 point mark as quickly as possible.

"We have five games to achieve that and I would feel a lot better if we could do that sooner rather than later," acknowledged the Reebok boss.