Bruce: Wigan are not safe yet April 25 2008
Wigan manager Steve Bruce has urged his side to seize the opportunity to secure Premier League survival when they host Reading on Saturday.
The Latics are five places and five points above the drop zone with three games remaining, which may prove to be enough to confirm their top-flight status for another season.
But Bruce does not want to leave anything to chance after watching West Ham and Portsmouth mount escape acts in the last two years.
Bolton have already launched a late rally to haul themselves out of the relegation zone and until the JJB outfit are guaranteed safety, Bruce will remain wary.
"Everybody in the game says we've done enough and that's horrible because we haven't," he said. "If we don't get a result against Reading on Saturday then we could be right in amongst it again.
"Then who knows, because we've seen Bolton come from nowhere to get back-to-back wins and we saw West Ham do it last year, and Portsmouth the year before, so we can't be complacent.
"We've got ourselves in a wonderful position where if we beat Reading at home with three games to go we'll be safe. If we do it, it'll be a remarkable turn-around and a great achievement by the players."
Victory over the Royals will take Wigan to 39 points, which Bruce admits looked a distant prospect after they lost 4-1 at Wanderers in just his second game in charge to lie four points adrift of safety.
But since then the Lancashire club have got the better of their relegation rivals, which has been a major factor in their survival push.
"Five months ago when we lost heavily at Bolton and had played 16 games with just nine points, I was thinking how the hell we were going to get another 30 points," Bruce said.
"But full credit to the players, they've rolled their sleeves up and had a right good go at it.
"What we've done particularly well since the turn of the year is beat Bolton, Derby and Birmingham at home, and that's got us in this situation.
"Before I came to the club that wasn't the case. We'd lost badly at Bolton and we hadn't picked up enough points off the teams at the bottom.
"If we get these three (points) then we've done it, we've stayed up, so let's hope we can finish it off."
Reading are still very much in the relegation mire too as they lie just a point above third-bottom Birmingham so Bruce expects a tense affair against Steve Coppell's men at the JJB Stadium.
"I'm hugely respectful of Steve and the job he's done," he said. "Whenever you play a Steve Coppell team you know they're going to be highly motivated, very well organised, difficult to break down and very competitive.
"We've got to be all those things ourselves, Reading will know they're in for a tough game and I hope that we have enough in our locker to get the result we need."