SAM Allardyce believes he can take Wanderers to heights they have never experienced before.

Jubilant after seeing El-Hadji Diouf fire the Whites to a derby victory over Manchester City on Monday night, the Reebok boss says confidence could not be higher as they prepare to take on Arsenal on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

The 1-0 win at Eastlands took Wanderers up to sixth in the table, trailing Liverpool on goal difference, with just nine Premiership games to play.

It is a position that would guarantee them a UEFA Cup place next season but Allardyce still believes the FA Cup offers him his best chance of becoming the first manager in history to take Wanderers into Europe.

"This was a big result for us," he said . "Now we can look forward to Arsenal with great confidence.

"The team did a brilliant job . It was a magnificent performance by a group of players who are capable of doing better than Bolton has ever done.

"It was a great start to a big week for us."

It is beyond Allardyce's team to finish third in the Premiership, which was the best Wanderers ever achieved in the old Football League. But they would eclipse any of their predecessors if they could beat their Premiership best of eighth, and combine that with FA Cup success and a place in Europe.

Kevin Davies, believes Wanderers have the strength and determination to go the distance.

"There's a lot of belief in the squad and everyone wants to push on," the hard-working striker said.

"In seasons before, we've tended to do well in the last 10 games and we have a good position to try to hold onto now.

"Last season was a brilliant season for us so we sat down and set ourselves some goals - and the main one was to finish higher in the league.

"It's still going to be difficult but it's something we are striving for."

Allardyce has previously tried to discourage his players from mentioning Europe, fearing they could be distracted. But the manager now knows he is fighting a losing battle on that score.

Davies added: "Europe has been in our minds for a while. It will be tough because we saw a few of the teams around us get wins at the weekend, but we are looking above us now rather than below us and that's a nice feeling.

"It was important for us to bounce back after the Newcastle defeat and now, hopefully, we can go on, undefeated, for the rest of the season and get to an FA Cup Final as well."