Wanderers set their sights on Europe tonight with boss Sam Allardyce urging his players to give the Worthington Cup their best shot.

The much-maligned competition has a special spice for Wanderers as it represents their best chance of winning a European place.

And while the Premiership is far and away their top priority, the significance of a good cup run is not lost of the Reebok manager.

"I don't put it as our first priority but there is no reason why we shouldn't go on to the next round," he said.

"I will send out a team which I believe will be more than equipped to win the game. That will put us into the quarter finals and it is imporant to get into the next and then go all the way."

Allardyce has made no secret of the fact that he will use the game to open the door for a number of fringe players to stake their claim for a Premiership place. He named Bo Hansen, Gareth Farrelly and Djibril Diawara as a trio who will get a chance to impress and there could be more changes from the team which secured another precious Premiership point against Fulham on Saturday.

Hansen, Farrelly and Diawara have had to wait patiently for their chance while the men in possession of the first team shirts have been taking the Premiership by storm. Allardyce believes that the lesser pressure of a Worthington Cup game will help the fringe players show what they can do.

"Players like Diawara, Hansen and Farrelly are key first team players who have not played that much recently.

"There will be less pressure on this game due to what our Premiership status means to us and that may help these players to express themselves. It gives players who have not played for a while a chance to do well and make it hard for me to leave them out.

"It will be a tough game for us because they have had a good win. They nicked it off us here in the league which was very disappointing. Being a cup match we expect a cup atmosphere and a cup game which is less pressure on their teams."