SASA Curcic is threatening to explode on to the Premier League.

The 23-year-old Serbian midfielder repayed a huge lump of Wanderers' joint record £1.5million fee with a sizzling winning goal in last night's 3-2 Coca-Cola Cup victory at Leicester City.

And he showed enough in his third appearance to suggest Wanderers could have a real gem on their hands.

The former Partizan Belgrade star continued his rapid acclimatisation to English football as he produced flashes of genuine quality throughout and threatened to take the game by the scruff of the neck when Wanderers hit form late on.

And joint managers Roy McFarland and Colin Todd believe the fans have seen nothing yet. "Sasa is going to excite supporters," predicted Todd. "We just have to find the right way to get the maximum out of him.

"He scored that superb winner last night and his run and shot which hit the post was quite spectacular."

McFarland added: "When he picks the ball up it looks like something is going to happen.

"He's not fully accustomed to the English game but we feel he is getting stronger with each game and his influence is getting stronger by the game.

"He lasted last night's game better than his previous two games and he looks to be coming to terms with the tempo of our game. "He can play an important role for us and it is going to be up to us to decide what that role is going to be. But he can provide the link between defence and attack."

Todd was upbeat about the manner of last night's success which set up a clash with Norwich in the last 16 of the competition in which Wanderers were beaten finalists at Wembley last season.

"It was an opportunity to redeem ourselves and put pride back into the club and that's what we did," he said. "There's no question that we were under a lot of pressure but we broke quite well and it was just great to get a result."

Gerry Taggart, Mark Patterson, Fabian de Freitas, Scott Green and Andy Todd all play in tonight's reserve game against Liverpool at Burnden Park (kick off 7pm) while midfielder Wayne Burnett has signed on for a second month's loan spell from Plymouth Argyle. Meanwhile, Wanderers have announced details of ticket sales for the Premier League clash at Southampton on November 25.

Tickets go on sale this Saturday to season ticket holders who have renewed this year. Wednesday Nov 15 for new season ticket holders. Saturday Nov 18 for members, Lifeline members and shareholders. Wed Nov 22 the rest go on open sale. All tickets are £14 with no concessions.

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