SAM Allardyce is too imaginative and far too innovative to resort to those much-maligned sporting cliches, even though it is "only half-time" in the Carling Cup semi-final.

But he almost fell into the trap as he did his utmost to prevent anyone suggesting Tuesday night's second leg decider at Villa Park is a formality.

The Reebok boss knows Wanderers could not have asked for better than a three-goal advantage and, even without two of the stars of the thrilling first leg triumph -- Jay-Jay Okocha and Kevin Nolan -- he is confident he has enough talent in his ranks to do what has to be done to secure a place in the final.

But football, as Jimmy Greaves is famed for saying, is a funny old game and, although he did not couch it in such comic terms, there was no mistaking the sentiments as he insisted the tie was far from over.

"We couldn't have given ourselves a better opportunity," the manager said.

"Any sort of advantage would have been sufficient from the first leg but I wouldn't want to see another bizarre game like that. We could not have done any more but football is a strange game and this one tonight is like no other game.

"Being three goals in front and having to go 90 minutes against a team that's probably going to play an all-risk strategy -- all up an' at 'em -- is a lot for us to cope with, both physically and mentally."

Allardyce has actually banned any mention of Cardiff or the Millennium Stadium and has already had to reprimand directors and staff he has heard referring to "the final". He will never forget the bitter experience he had at Blackpool when he saw his players fritter away a 3-1 lead from the away leg of their play-off semi-final against

Bradford City -- an upset that ultimately cost him his job!

There will be no such sanctions this time, whatever the outcome, since Wanderers have already gone further in the competition than they ever budgeted for. Nevertheless, having come so far and put themselves in such a strong position, they are determined to make it count.

Allardyce and his coaches know Villa must go on the attack from the start and, with Wanderers' counter-attacking game having brought so much success away from home in recent years, that could play into their hands. Tactically it appears straightforward; they must be organised at the back, draw Villa's sting and be ruthless when they have the opportunity to break.

But it is the mental attitude of his players that is testing Allardyce's managerial skills.

"There are some very interesting psychological scenarios to cover," he said. "Villa will up the tempo; they will get forward as quickly and as often as possible. They'll get every ball back as quickly as they can and try to get as much out of the 90 minutes as they possibly can.

"We're going to have to cope with what they throw at us and, although it's important that we do attack and get players to hold the ball up to take the pressure off the back players, our responsibility first and foremost is to defend correctly.

"We'll find ourselves under severe pressure, particularly at the start of the game, because we know they'll be saying 'Let's test them as early as we can'. So we've got to make sure we don't lose our head, lose our discipline, lose our shape or lose our concentration.

"We've got to be calm, controlled, strong and aggressive and we've got to use our talents and do what we know has been successful for us."

Wanderers have a healthy respect for Villa's attacking potential, even if Colombian striker Juan Pablo Angel does not make it. David O'Leary might have been crestfallen when he left the Reebok, admitting his side had given themselves "an Everest to climb" but he had every justification in claiming his attacking players had done well and it will be to them that he will look as he bids to turn the tie round.

But he knows only too well that, if his defenders don't shape up, it could be Wanderers who get the all-important early goal.

"David hit the nail on the head when he said the rest of his team were very good, apart from his defenders," Allardyce said, "but you can't take anything away from the quality of our goals.

"Even though you could point the finger at one or two defenders, the execution of all the goals was superb.

"I'd just like to see us score a scruffy goal, a bit like Manchester United did to get off the mark on Sunday at Northampton.

"I don't care how we get through -- just as long as we get there. That's all that matters."