EL-Hadji Diouf is aiming to put his injury frustrations behind him and help Wanderers become one of the leading lights of the Premier League.

The Senegal star is tipped to return to the Whites attack in Monday's derby duel with Manchester City at Eastlands, after missing two games with the bruised ankle he suffered in a friendly international.

With six goals in 20 appearances, he has already made an impact, but now, facing an uncertain future, he is more determined than ever to bring his influence to bear.

Rated a "£10 million flop" at Liverpool, Diouf has prospered since joining Wanderers on loan and is desperate to show his gratitude to Sam Allardyce for breathing new life into his career.

"Sam Allardyce is like a father to me," he said. "I am trying to repay the faith he has shown in me.

"He believes in me, despite the reputation people have given me.

"Bolton has welcomed me with open arms and I would have no problem staying here. It is a team on the up and a club on the up and, in the future, I see them being one of the leading clubs in England."

Diouf still believes he can secure a long-term contract with Wanderers, despite reports that Liverpool have put a £5m price on his head half the fee they paid French club, Lens, in the summer of 2002.

That is likely to be out of Allardyce's reach, but the Bolton boss would have no reservations about signing the controversial former African Footballer of the Year.

"It is a very difficult and delicate situation because of the size of the money and the size of his contract," the Wanderers boss said.

"It makes it very difficult for us or anyone else to consider, unless you get him for a lot less than Liverpool paid."

Diouf and Nicky Hunt, who dislocated his shoulder in last week's 2-1 defeat at Newcastle, will have fitness tests before Allardyce names his side for a game that, should they win it, would take Wanderers to sixth in the table, level on points with Liverpool and into an auatomatic UEFA Cup qualification place.

Wanderers have a wretched record against City - losing four of their last five Premiership meetings and taking a 6-2 beating on their last visit to the City of Manchester Stadium. And, despite Kevin Keegan's selection plans being hit by injury and suspensions, Allardyce admits they will need to be at their best if they are to beat a team brimming with confidence after recovering from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Norwich last time out.

"Coming back from 2-0 down away from home is a magnificent effort anywhere in the Premiership," he said.

"It shows they are in good form and, historically, since we've been back in the Premiership, we've struggled against them. They're not our favourite team to play against.

"So we'll need to get back on top of our game and repeat the first half performance against Newcastle for the full 90 minutes.

"I'm confident that, if we can do that, we'll get something there."

Allardyce, who has Kevin Nolan available again after suspension, is anxious to avoid back-to-back defeats to stop any slide before it begins.

"Even after one defeat I've already had comments such as You're not going to start another bad run like last time?'" he said, reflecting on last Sunday's defeat on Tyneside that ended a 10-match unbeaten run.

"It's no surprise because straight away, after the Newcastle defeat, it flashed in your mind what happened last time after we had a great run. This run was even better than the last, but it's ended and we've got to get back on track."