THE man charged with bringing a premature end to Wanderers' European adventure has admitted his side will have to strike lucky when the teams meet on Thursday night.

Lokomotiv Plovdiv coach Eduard Eranossian is a known admirer of the Premiership, watching England's millionaire footballers on television along with millions of other Bulgarians each week.

The 44-year-old prepares to bring Lokomotiv to the Reebok Stadium knowing there is a massive gulf in finances and quality between the sides - but said his side would not be rolling over on their first journey to English shores.

"First of all I expect two thrilling games," said Eranossian.

"Bolton, of course, are the favourites for the matches. They are a better side in terms of quality, money and everything.

"Of course we would try to use our chances but I'm a realist and can confess that our rivals are a much better side."

If English managers bemoan the pressures of the modern game, then they need only to look to Bulgaria to see how life really is at the sharp end of the sport.

So far this season, Eranossian has had to contend with the murder of his club president, Georgi Illiev, in a suspected gangland shooting, a four-game suspension given to his star striker, Martin Kamburov, for spitting at an opponent, and a poor start to the season which saw Lokomotiv fail to win any of their first three games.

Although his side have had their fair share of problems, Eranossian remains a calm and calculating manager, who one day hopes to see his players plying their trade in the English game.

He said: "We are good enough to get a result in either leg of the game. Every game begins at 0-0 and we'll try to seek our chances and to use them.

"I believe in my players that they are able to play good football against such a strong side as Bolton.

"Some of them could definitely play well in England. Internationals Martin Kamburov, Georgi Illiev, Alexander Tunchev, Kiril Kotev are able to play well in the Premier League, I think."

As a player, Eranossian represented Bulgaria 11 times, and shares a birthday with the current national team coach ' and Plovdiv's most famous son Hristo Stoichkov.

He is now in his second spell as Lokomotiv manager, having been unceremoniously sacked halfway through the 2003/4 season. He returned three months later to guide his club to the league title for the first time in their history.

Despite their recent success in their domestic competition, Lokomotiv are still a relative unknown on the European stage.

The same can be said for Wanderers, but the popularity of the Premiership on the continent means Eranossian will probably be better acquainted with his opponents' style of play than Sam Alladryce.

"I've seen their win over West Ham and am very impressed with what they've done," said Eranossian.

"Before that I've watched Wanderers on TV but not precisely concentrated on their play."

Eranossian also said he was impressed with the way Allardyce has turned Whites from Premiership strugglers to European contenders.

He said: "I don't know him personally and cannot say anything about him. Looking at what he has done with Bolton I can say he is really a very big specialist.

"It's a great thing to build a team with little money by English standards, from a small town like Bolton and compete with Liverpool and Manchester United."

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