SAM Allardyce turned the derby spotlight on his strikers when he urged his hit-men to shoot Wanderers clear of the Premiership drop zone.

"We need goals from somebody," the Wanderers' boss said ahead of Saturday's Reebok showdown with relegation rivals Blackburn.

"I don't care who they come from - Michael Ricketts, Rod Wallace, Dean Holdsworth, Fredi Bobic -anyone!"

Wanderers have shown signs in their last two Premiership fixtures that they have solved the problems in defence that were threatening to supper their survival plan.

But, after adding Bobic and the French ace Youri Djorkaeff to his front line options, the manager expects his investments and the increased competition to inspire a goal surge.

And, although Ricketts has not scored a Premiership goal in five games, he is not asking his 15-goal top scorer to shoulder all the responsibility. The last four goals Wanderers have scored in the League have come from midfield - Ricardo Gardner (two), Bo Hansen and Nicky Southall - and, although chances have been at a premium Allardyce knows his team will continue to live on the edge if they fail to improve their firepower.

That and the need to find a replacement for injured full-back Simon Charlton for Saturday's derby - either from within his ranks or from the transfer market - are his major causes for concern.

Charlton's hamstring injury, which is expected to keep him out for at least two games, means he must wrestle with the problem of asking either Anthony Barness to play on the left of defence or "robbing Peter to pay Paul" by switching Mike Whitlow from centre-back, where he has been inspirational, or playing Gardner in the No 3 berth, which means losing his only genuine wide midfield player.

Allardyce should at least have Paul Warhurst in the equation with the ex-Rovers man being given the all-clear to resume training after his calf problem.