COLIN Todd believes personal pride and derby determination can help Wanderers beat the odds at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The beleaguered Bolton boss sees the showdown with the Premiership leaders as the ideal spur for his relegation haunted players.

"People might see it as probably the worst game we could possibly have at this stage," the manager said as he picked up the pieces after Saturday's 5-1 home defeat by Coventry.

"Nobody will be expecting us to get anything out of the game and it's been said there can only be one winner. But talk like that and the fact that it's a derby game should be all the motivation the players will need.

"And, if they can set out their stall in the way they did against United at the Reebok back in September, then they can defy the odds.

"I know a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then and, from our point of view, we have a mountain to climb. But we won't be going there to lie down."

Wanderers, without a win in eight games, face a Manchester United side desperate to get their championship drive back into gear after successive defeats.

There will be changes to the team that collapsed in humiliating fashion on Saturday but no new signings are on the cards.

Instead, Todd will go with what he already has at his disposal. Alan Thompson, due to return in midfield after a two-match suspension, gets a runout in the Reserves at Grimby tonight along with John Sheridan and Dean Holdsworth, who returned from injury lay-offs against Coventry. Peter Beardsley also gets a game in the 2nd Xl.

But skipper Gudni Bergsson is being held back. He is available again after a two-match suspension but is currently nursing an ankle injury and will need to make significant improvement if he is going to be available for selection at the weekend.

Reflecting on the shattering Coventry defeat, Todd said: "It's been a big embarrassment for us all. There's no point hiding from that.

"We're all professionals. It's my job now to get the right response from them but they have got to accept their responsibilities.

"The encouraging thing is that I can see that there isn't one of them who isn't prepared to fight for the cause."

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