Wolves’ Sporting Star columnist John Lalley believes the next two away ‘six pointers’ could be as vital as any other fixtures this season in the race for survival.

With all of the Premier League’s bottom seven losing over the weekend, we can take some consolation that defeat against the champions-elect did us no strategic harm for the time being.

All season, we have fortified ourselves by insisting that there are at least three other teams worse than us and no doubt the other clubs in dire straights don’t think that we are too crash hot either.

Bolton, Burnley, Hull and Wigan will all be categorical in their belief that they can survive at our expense, so Saturday gives us and our opponents Bolton a chance to strike a massive psychological blow.

Last month, we had a similar opportunity at Hull and left with a point, a creditable result especially after twice recovering from a goal down, but behind the relief of avoiding defeat there lingered a frustration that caution, albeit understandable, had prevented us from winning.

Make no mistake we should have won at the KC Stadium that day, we were the better outfit, but a couple of priceless points went begging.

The congestion at the foot of the table increases on a weekly basis, now Sunderland’s defeat at Arsenal extends their inexorable drift into the mire. Wigan, who just a few weeks ago sauntered to an easy three points at Molineux, now appear as vulnerable as any other club bar Portsmouth, whose own escapades defy all reasonable logic.

Following Saturday’s showdown at the Reebok Stadium, our next trip on the road takes us to Burnley. These two jaunts up to Lancashire are likely to be tense and unattractive wars of attrition, but we must be targeting maximum points regardless.

Bolton have actually won fewer home games than Wolves and, when they came to Molineux back in December, we hit them hard early, consolidated our lead and resisted their strong finish to the game.

In contrast, Burnley has lost only twice in a dozen matches at Turf Moor this season, but unless they stop the rot on their travels – just a single point from a possible 39 – they will be relegated.

Their capitulation from a promising position against a slumbering and less than fully motivated Villa last Sunday is a genuine source of comfort for Wolves. When Burnley followed Bolton to Molineux before Christmas, we enjoyed just about our only routine, trouble-free win all season.

Similarly, when they were here in the Championship last season, we brushed them aside with ease, but in the return at Turf Moor they outfought us, showed far more resolve and took revenge all too easily.

This time, we must match them for intensity and application, not least because they have got a home record we would positively kill for. For certain, there will be no friendly welcome waiting for us up there!

Our victory over Bolton at Molineux saw us benefit hugely from the absence of the suspended Kevin Davies. Without him, a robust, physical striker who sails close to the edge of the rules, our central defenders had little pressure to endure until Bolton’s frantic finish almost saw them pinch an undeserved point.

The image of Didier Drogba utilising pace and muscle to leave Christophe Berra floundering to seal the deal for Chelsea is not reassuring. Davies will need to be clamped on and not allowed to bully any of our defenders; if he spies any weakness, he goes straight for the jugular – sometimes almost literally! He is as vital to Bolton’s system as Kevin Doyle is to ours.

If Doyle is forced to miss any of our last 12 games, only Andy Keogh could be asked to try to replicate such a challenging role and he is just returning after a long period of injury.

No doubt boss Mick McCarthy will stick rigidly with our current formation and who can reasonably blame him? But the rewards on offer for being positive in these two games are substantial, especially with daunting challenges against Manchester United and a rejuvenated Everton next on the Molineux agenda.

Above all, we must ensure that we leave the Reebok and Turf Moor certain in our own consciousness that we did everything in our power to force a couple of victories.

At Hull, we left with the partial satisfaction of a job reasonably well done, but it was the home team not us who was more relieved to have escaped with a point. These are two fixtures where we simply cannot contemplate any nagging ‘if only’ regrets where we stymie ourselves with our own inhibitions.

The stakes are just as high for our opponents and the results will hugely define the final outcome of this season for all three clubs, because at least one of us is heading by the slow route to the last exit.