ANDY Oakes is delighted to be able to concentrate on football again after his financial frustrations at Derby.

The former Hull City keeper found himself sidelined at Pride Park because the cash-strapped Rams could not afford to pay him.

But now he is back in business, back in the Premiership reckoning and hoping to get the nod when Wanderers embark on another Carling Cup adventure at Yeovil on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old, who is tipped to stand in for Jussi Jaaskelainen after replacing Kevin Poole on the subs bench against Manchester United, said: "It's great to be back in contention for a first team place again after my frustrations at Derby.

"It was just one of those situations ... Derby couldn't afford to play me because I was on a Premiership contract. It's not that I wasn't willing to play, I even offered to take a pay cut in order to get a game but it wasn't possible to do that. On the other hand, I'd earned the right to the Premiership contract in the first place."

Northwich-born Oakes, who had spells at Burnley and Bury and dropped into non-league before making his name with Hull, joined Derby for £450,000 five years ago and made more than 50 senior appearances for the Rams. But he had been out of the first team picture for 10 months before Sam Allardyce took him on a three-month loan with a view to a more permanent arrangement.

"It's great to be back at a Premiership club again," Oakes told Wanderers TV. "I prepare for every game as though I was going to be selected, just in case the need arises.

"I'd love to play at Yeovil but, even if I don't, I'll be fully behind and supporting whoever does.

"I believe I've got a lot to offer still and I'm grateful to Sam for offering me the chance and fully intend to repay him, if an opportunity arises."

Allardyce will follow the familiar pattern of resting the majority of his Premiership regulars but is anxious to avoid any embarrassing slip-ups against the team from Football League Two as Wanderers bid to go one better than last season. "The Premiership takes priority over everything else but we had a fantastic journey last year, apart from the bitter disappointment of the final," the manager said, "and the memories of that will never leave us, nor the disappointment.

"We've got to try to get there again but we'll have to have a well-planned cautious approach like we did last year.

"We'll have a similar selection process. Last year we won at Liverpool with Kevin Poole in goal and with Ibrahim Ba and Mario Jardel in the side and this time we've got players with huge capabilities who are not playing on a regular basis at the moment and who will want to play in this game.

"And if that's not good enough to win the game, we'll deserve all the criticism we get."