Wanderers are ready, willing and, they confidently maintain, more than able as they prepare to take their place among the elite of English football.

But, on the eve of the new Premiership season, Sam Allardyce admitted feeling like taking a "step into the unknown".

"We have a good idea what to expect but we won't really know what it's going to be like until we get out there," the Reebok boss said ahead of tomorrow's opening game at Leicester.

"I've been a bit too busy up to now to get excited but I just hope the buzz is as good as it was at the Millennium Stadium in May.

"Leicester away in the first fixture is a hell of a tough game to start with. They've spent £10 million to resurrect the team after the bad finish they had to last season, adding some very good, experienced players like Ian Walker and Dennis Wise and bringing in more striking power with James Scowcroft.

"I would like to think we can approach the game in the same manner we approached our last game. Whether we can win it, I don't know, but if we've given everything and performed well, I'll be satisfied."

Eighty-two days after their victory over Preston in the Play-off Final at Cardiff, Wanderers and their fans - 2,000 of them - are raring to go, anxious to see if they can measure up to the demands of the Premiership. Allardyce has not had the scope he would have liked to strengthen his hand and, after recent unsuccessful bids, is still looking for reinforcements. But he has managed to add four new faces to his squad - Djibril Diawara, Nicky Southall, Henrik Pedersen and Akinori Nishizawa - although only Diawara is expected to figure in tomorrow's starting line-up.

Recovery

Team selection has been held up with Colin Hendry (knee) and Gareth Farrelly (thigh strain) facing fitness tests but Jussi Jaaskelainen has confirmed his recovery from the serious knee injury he sustained in January and is expected to pip the in-form Steve Banks for the goalkeeper's jersey.

If they are both ruled out, as is feared, Allardyce's first 11 is expected to look something like: Jaaskelainen; Barness, Bergsson, Diawara, Charlton; Nolan, Warhurst, Frandsen; Hansen, Ricketts, Gardner. Dean Holdsworth is likely to start on the subs' bench.

Allardyce believes Ricketts will get goals at any level but insists there is no pressure on the 22-year-old striker. "We have a nice array of strikers to choose from," he says. "Henrik Pedersen scored goals in Denmark - 24 and 25 in the last two seasons - Dean Holdsworth has always scored goals, Michael Ricketts got 24 last year and, although we don't know much about how Nishizawa can perform here, he is a full Japanese international with a good scoring record.

"It would be great for us if they can all contribute."