SAM Allardyce is confident the players he drafts in to replace Jay-Jay Okocha and Kevin Nolan will have the experience and the quality to see Wanderers safely through the Carling Cup semi-final decider at Villa Park.

Ibrahim Ba, the player most likely to assume the Okocha role while the skipper is away on African Nations Cup duty with Nigera, and Per Frandsen, who was suspended for the first leg, are expected to take over the key midfield roles.

And, although he has limited options beyond his ever-dwindling first team squad, the manager believes he has enough talent in his ranks to complete the job Wanderers started with a resounding 5-2 first leg win at the Reebok.

He stopped short of revealing his team selection but confirmed: "The players who will come in have played in this competition and have helped us get to the semi-final.

"Kevin Nolan and Jay-Jay Okocha were the two dominant factors in the first leg and we have to cope without them, as we've had to cope without Ricardo Gardner and Florent Laville. With four key players missing, we'll need that three-goal cushion but Ibrahim Ba, Henrik Pedersen and Per Frandsen have all played a part.

"We hope we'll be as good tonight as we've been so often away from home and get ourselves through to the final."

Wanderers are not sorry to see Juan Pablo Angel ruled out of the game after failing to recover from a calf injury he picked up in the first leg, in which he scored both Villa goals.

Centre-back Emerson Thome had already singled out the Colombian for special attention before his withdrawal, acknowledging: "Juan has been outstanding this season. He had a difficult time at the beginning when he went to Villa but he has settled down very well.

"He's been showing what a good player he is. But he is not the only one. Like ourselves, Villa are not just a one-man team. They have the attributes to turn this tie round. I just hope we can be strong enough and concentrate enough."