Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce was delighted with the 1-0 win over Liverpool which lifted his team into third place in the Premiership after three wins from four.

Wanderers have now beaten Charlton 4-1 at home, Southampton 2-1 away and lost 2-0 at Fulham with Manchester United the next Reebok visitors on September 11.

Allardyce said: "We defended exceptionally well and limited them to only a few chances.

"What we needed was to score the first goal - that gave us something to go for and we've got our first clean sheet.

"It's a little bit of luck we needed. But I think we deserved the win," added Allardyce, referring to Luis Garcia's disputed offside goal for Liverpool.

Earlier news

STELIOS, the Reebok's very own Euro star, has assured Sam Allardyce that he is fully focused on the Premiership and his only concern is that his team-mates are just as single-minded.

The Wanderers' midfield ace was shocked to hear that the manager had suggested he needed a reality check after sharing in the glory of Greece's sensational triumph in Portugal.

He insists that Allardyce, who sarcastically referred to him as the "Greek God" after Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Fulham, has no reason to question his commitment.

It was assumed that the manager's comments -- he suggested Stelios had still not come down from his summer -- were meant to provoke a positive response from the player when he was handed his first start of the season at Southampton on Wednesday.

But Stelios only learned of the criticism after the 2-1 win at St Mary's.

"I didn't know such a thing," he said, appearing genuinely surprised that he had been singled out for criticism.

"He didn't tell me face to face so maybe it's not true, the whole situation, but I have no problem. If he thinks it's like that I will try to do my best for him to change his mind.

"Every time I go onto the pitch I just think of giving a good performance and helping the club do whatever we can do. I have nothing in my mind, other than to play good football and to help my team and my team-mates."

Allardyce also ruled out the "amateur psychology" theory when he made it clear he had not decided to play Stelios at Southampton when he made his original comments. But he felt his decisions to promote him from the subs' bench at the expense of Kevin Nolan and play Radhi Jaidi instead of Julio Cesar, were fully justified.

"I had a long think about whether I should let the same 11 redeem themselves, but decided that wasn't the thing to do," he said." Many players -- not just Kevin or Julio -- could have been dropped. But where we'd struggled in the air at Fulham, Radhi dominated, and I felt Stelios could hold the ball up a little better than Kevin and work the pitch a little better."

Stelios not only reckons he has already consigned Greece's amazing Euro triumph to the history books but sees no sense now in dwelling on Wednesday's victory -- other than to use it as a means of boosting confidence ahead of the Liverpool game.

It was vital, he said, that Sunday's game be taken in isolation and not as the first of three against top class opponents -- Manchester

United visit the Reebok on September 11 with Wanderers travelling to Arsenal a week later.

"Even this one is history now," he said after the Southampton win.

"We have to settle down and keep our feet on the ground.

"It doesn't matter who we play, every game is very big, whether we are at home or away. Every match in the Premiership is tough so we

just have to focus on Liverpool, then we will see afterwards about the other games.

"We needed a good performance (after the Fulham defeat), we needed the three points and we made it. That's going to give us a very good psychological boost for the games to come."

While assuring Allardyce that he has not been affected psychologically by Greece's surprise success nor by the celebrations that followed, Stelios admits he is still catching up on the fitness front. But, when he does get back to peak condition, he believes he will reap the benefits of his experience.

"I'm not 100 per cent ready yet but, game after game, I will do better and better," he added.

"I had only four weeks to rest and I needed it because it was a very tough tournament in Portugal. Now, week after week, I am trying to be fitter and fitter and in better physical condition.

"My first year in the Premiership helped me a lot. The second year is going to be better than the last one."