JOHN Sheridan is ready to put his experienced shoulder to Wanderers' survival wheel even though he knows he might not be around to enjoy the fruits of his labours.

The veteran midfielder doesn't know whether he will be asked to stay on when his contract expires this summer but that won't stop him fighting like fury to keep the club's Premiership hopes alive.

"I'm getting on now," the 33-year-old Wanderer admits, "and I don't know whether I'll be here next season.

"I don't even know whether I'll be playing tomorrow but hopefully I can help in some of the remaining games.

"I'm determined to keep Bolton in the Premiership because they deserve to be there and, if I'm not going to be offered a new contract here, I need to prove to other people that I still have something to offer."

If Sheridan gets the nod to make his third start of an injury-plagued season he will come up against the club and manager who will forever be in his debt.

It was his goal that gave Ron Atkinson's Sheffield Wednesday their only major post-war triumph - a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the Rumbelows Cup Final.

Not that the Stretford-born Irish international has time for sentiment. "I had a lot of happy years with Wednesday and enjoyed playing for Big Ron, who was a good manager and always got his teams playing good football," he recalls.

"I was fortunate to score that winning goal at Wembley. But all I'll be interested in, if I play, will be getting the three points, which we need badly at the moment."

Sheridan says Wanderers must take two wins from their next three games - Leicester and Arsenal follow Wednesday to the Reebok before the end of March - if they are to have any chance of staying in the top flight.

"We'd like to win all three," he acknowledges. "That's not impossible but it's going to be difficult.

"The lads certainly don't think it's all over though.

"They haven't been playing badly and they only need to get that first win that would make all the difference...and the sooner the better.

"When we had 15 or 16 games to go we thought we had time on our side but now, with 10, we're desperate.

"But we've had no luck, typical of teams when they are down at the bottom. The first half at Liverpool was an example - Tommo scored that great goal and we were looking comfortable. Then he hit the bar. If we'd have been at the top, that would have gone in.

"In the second half Arnar's gone through and, if he'd been playing with a bit of confidence, he'd have scored."

For a player who spent the first six months of the season sidelined with a knee injury, Sheridan held his own in illustrious midfield company at Anfield, fully deserving of the pat on the back from his manager. Despite his reservations, he is likely to get the nod again if Scott Sellars loses his fight to recover from the sciatica problem that has added to his suspension woes.

Not surprisingly in a career that has spanned 17 seasons, Sheridan has endured the lows as well as the highs. But he draws consolation from his experience.

"When I was at Sheffield Wednesday we got relegated and we only needed four points from seven games!" he recalled.

"Teams can think they are safe and they aren't. It will probably go to the last couple of games but I certainly think we can catch Tottenham and Everton."

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