SAM Allardyce is worried the World Cup could wreck his attempt to get Wanderers back on the European trail.

The Whites boss wants an all-guns-blazing performance against bottom club Norwich at the Reebok on Saturday to convince him that the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal has not dented his team's determination to secure a UEFA Cup place.

But he fears his international players could be tempted to hold back and save themselves for crucial qualifiers.

"It shouldn't be that way but there is a slight concern that we have so many players with one or two very important World Cup qualifiers to go to next week, who won't want to get themselves injured," he said. "This is an important game for us, but the fact is that the World Cup, in some players' eyes, is bigger than club football, which is what they rely on for their wages.

"What they seem to forget is that, unless they are on top of their game for their clubs, they might not get into their international squads in the first place."

Allardyce blamed international calls for the defeat at West Brom in October, when Wanderers became the first team to lose to the newly-promoted Baggies.

And, with at least seven players due to jet off on international duty next week, he admits concerns over similar distractions this time could influence his team selection.

"I felt that the key factor to the defeat at West Brom was that too many players had their minds on the internationals that were coming up the following week," he said.

"It seemed to me that they didn't want to get hurt and didn't want to put their foot in and that was why we lost to a team that has only won three games all season.

"But I'm afraid it's the case that, in a lot of the countries our players are involved with, international football is regarded as more important than club football, unlike here, where the Premiership and certainly the Champions League, is considered more important."