A REPORT on Sunday suggests Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce may take advantage of Derby County's cash troubles to launch a bid for England Under 21 star striker Malcolm Christie.

And, surprise surprise, Michael Ricketts will be sold to finance the suggested four million pound bid, says the report in The People.

Meanwhile, Allardyce is backing midfield star Jay-Jay Okocha to finally kick-start his Wanderers career after being out on the sidelines for the past two months.

The Nigerian World Cup ace joined the club in the summer on a free transfer from Paris St Germain, only to suffer a medial knee ligament injury during Wanderers' Pemiership opener with Fulham, which restricted him to making only one appearance as a substitute.

Okocha has also been held up by the same settling-in problems that can affect foreign players when they first move to this country.

But he proved he is fit and ready for a first team return with his superb strike for the reserves at Birmingham on Wednesday.

"His problems seem to have come to an end now," says Allardyce. "It is time for me to give him his opportunity.

"It has been a long process and the injury has not helped things, but he is much more settled now as his family have now joined him and he has a home.

"In training he astounds me in terms of what he can do with the ball. Now we have to transfer that into a match situation and see if he can produce what we know he is capable of."

There seems little doubt that Okocha will make his home debut against Sunderland as Allardyce pairs him up with Youri Djorkaeff in what would be one of the Premiership's most glamorous midfield combinations.

"I'm dying to play the two of them together," says Sam.

"I've not been able to do that yet in the Premiership.

"At the moment we need Jay-Jay. If we were winning games then he would have to fight for his place as talented as he is, but the way things are he will come straight back into contention for Monday night.

"He has to build himself slowly into our team. He may find that some of the players are not as talented as he is used to, but they have a very good work ethic and want him to be successful.

"He must learn when he should and should not show off his skills.

"I'm sure he is experienced enough and wise enough now to do those things in the right areas of the pitch.

"We don't particularly want him tracking back in our own half, we want him in a position to receive the ball and get going. It is in the opposition's half and especially in the final third when we want a Jay-Jay Okocha."