SAM Allardyce is not the first manager in the world and he will not be the last to single out Michael Owen as the danger man.

Nor is he the first outsider to suggest that reports of Liverpool's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

He even goes as far as to suggest that a victory at Anfield on Saturday would be as impressive as winning at Old Trafford in September.

But the Wanderers' boss still thinks it is within his team's capabilities to get the result that, on a weekend when their rivals are idol, would see them regain the initiative in the battle to beat the drop.

"If we're at our best, we'll make life difficult for Liverpool," he says with the confidence of a manager who has beaten the odds time and again to collect some impressive Premiership scalps.

"We have a plan to contain them and make life difficult for them. If we do that, as we have many times this season, we can frustrate them. And, as always, if you can frustrate the opposition on their own pitch, you can frustrate the fans and that can get to the players and give us the chance to capitalise on the mistakes they may make.

"Our problem has been punishing teams enough when we've had the chance because we do not have a goalscorer of genuine Premiership quality."

That and their tendency to concede late goals has put Wanderers right back in the thick of the relegation battle, just when things were looking up.

The Reebok victory over Birmingham on February 1 should have been the springboard for a leap towards the Premiership comfort zone. But the last-gasp equalisers conceded at West Brom and at home to Manchester United have been made to look even more damaging in the light of both Birmingham and West Ham getting back-to-back wins.

"We should be sitting here on 30 points after three successive wins but we've left ourselves with massive pressures," Allardyce admits, accepting that the relegation battle has now been reduced to just four clubs - Wanderers, West Ham, West Brom and Sunderland.

"It now looks like three from four whereas four weeks ago it was maybe three from six or seven. Teams like Fulham, Middlesbrough and Birmingham have drawn further away and the remaining games are going into single figures."

On the credit side Wanderers are in their best form of the season, having produced their best team performance in going desperately close to doing the double over United a fortnight ago. Apart from the enforced switch of replacing the injured Henrik Pedersen with Valencia striker Salva Ballesta, Allardyce is likely to stand by that derby line-up, which may mean Per Frandsen, back from suspension, having to settle for a place on the bench.

Allardyce says optimistically: "We take encouragement from the fact that we are in our best form and hope that form continues and ultimately produces the victories we need to get to safety.

"We feel the pressure but I think we can handle it."

Yet there is a hint of trepidation as he voices his fears that his team might struggle to get out of their squandering habits.

"If we are 1-0 up against Liverpool with a minute to go I don't think anybody in Bolton - the supporters, the chairman, the tea lady, never mind the players - would be confident of us winning the game 1-0," he says with marked exaggeration.

"We've done many sessions on how to deal with these situations but really I can't pester the players about it because then it becomes a phobia. As deep as it lies set in my mind, tormenting me, I can't afford to pass that on to the players. I can only work on trying to get it right by asking them to take responsibility, to know the situation and to do what is necessary to deal with it."

With Owen back in the groove, scoring three goals in successive games, and Liverpool on a high after their Worthington Cup Final triumph over Manchester United in Cardiff, Wanderers know they have a job on their hands but they are encouraged by the fact that the Mersey Reds will be without Stephane Henchoz at the heart of their formidable defence.

"If you stop Michael Owen scoring, you're 50 per cent of the way to getting a result against Liverpool," Allardyce says, hinting at his game plan. "But that's a hell of an achievement. Michael's all about scoring goals and Liverpool's success or failure lies heavily on him.

"What looked like an easier game two or three weeks ago now looks a massive task.

"But we have to believe we can do it and, in the form we are in at the moment, we can do it."