Wimbledon can go a long way towards securing their Premiership future on Saturday - but defeat by Bolton would throw the race to avoid relegation wide open.

Three wins from their last eight games should be more than enough to secure Joe Kinnear's side a place in the top flight for the 13th season in a row.

The Dons moved a point nearer to safety with Tuesday night's 0-0 draw against Newcastle.

But with Bolton and Barnsley both losing on Tuesday night, the Dons missed an opportunity to open up a seven-point gap ahead of third-from-bottom Barnsley.

Carl Leaburn made a hash of two first half headers when he had been left unmarked by the Newcastle defence. Kinnear said: "We were disappointing up front but did well defensively. It might turn out to be a valuable result."

Once again, Dons' centre halves Chris Perry and Dean Blackwell were outstanding as they thwarted £15m striker Alan Shearer.

Their hard work was rewarded with a deserved clean sheet, as it should have been on Saturday when the Dons held Manchester United at 0-0 for 80 minutes.

Then United `scored' two goals which were both clearly offside, leaving Kinnear furious with referee Dermot Gallagher. When players and managers' jobs, millions of pounds and 13 years of hard work are at stake, dreadful decisions like those are simply not good enough.

And isn't it amazing how they always go in favour of the `big' clubs?

Wimbledon's remaining games: April 4 Bolton (h), 11 Southampton (a), 13 Everton (h), 18 Arsenal (a), 25 Blackburn (a), May 2 Tottenham (h), 10 Leeds (a).

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