Al Habsi insists former club Bolton can beat the drop

Dubai: Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi has pointed his old club Bolton towards the Latics' final-day win at Stoke last year as proof that last-gasp survival at the Britannia Stadium is possible.

Short of Man City-bound Queens Park Rangers by two points, if third from bottom Bolton don't win at Stoke on Sunday, they will be condemned to a return to the second tier of English football for the first time since 2001.

Despite having six league wins away from the Reebok Stadium already in the bag this season, the Trotters' chances of survival remain questionable.

But Oman keeper Al Habsi, who spent four years on the bench at Bolton as understudy to Jussi Jaaskalainen before switching to Wigan, is sending positive vibes the short distance between the two north-west clubs.

Al Habsi, who was again pivotal in confirming Wigan's second consecutive great escape with a 1-0 win at Blackburn on Monday, told Gulf News: "It would hurt me a lot if Bolton went down. I really enjoyed myself there and still have a lot of friends at the club. I hope they stay in the Premier League.

"But I think they have what it takes to survive. Stoke is a hard place to go to get three points, but we [Wigan] did it on the last day of the season last year so it's not impossible. They should just believe in themselves."

Shrugging off the frustrations of being left largely unused at the Reebok, despite playing a key role in keeping them up in 2008, Al Habsi added: "This is football. I had a fantastic time at Bolton and fought for every second, every minute of my time there. I gained a lot of experience at the club and I've put that into practice at Wigan."

Speaking of his own side's survival this season, Al Habsi said: "We deserved it. It was a fantastic comeback from all our players in the last ten games to beat Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle.

"We've proven ourselves to be a tough team to beat and, unlike last season, we are better than the Wolverhamptons, Blackburns, QPRs, Aston Villas and Boltons. We are a big team and not far off [in points] from the likes of Stoke, Sunderland or Liverpool. We look forward to improving our position next season."