SAM Allardyce has challenged his frustrated fringe players to show him what they are made of at Watford on Saturday.

A selection crisis means Hidetoshi Nakata, Jared Borgetti and Martin Djetou will all be pressed into service in the FA Cup third round tie at Vicarage Road, while Khalilou Fadiga will play, if he recovers from a bout of sickness.

And they have each been given personal assurances that impressive performances will put them right back in the Premiership reckoning.

For Nakata, Borgetti and Fadiga it will be an opportunity to live up to the big reputations that persuaded Allardyce to bring them to the Reebok in the first place.

But for Djetou there is an even greater incentive - the chance to earn himself a permanent contract.

The France international has made only five appearances, three as substitute, since joining Wanderers on a short-term deal in October, when he was without a club after cutting his ties with Nice. But he is expected to be given the midfield holding role, which is a major feature of the Allardyce strategy.

If he impresses, the contract could be his, if he fails, he could be on his way.

"We'll get through the Watford game and make a decision after that,"Allardyce said.

"One would hope at this stage he would go out and prove his worth. If he does, we'd say 'yes'.

"I like the man immensely as a person, but, in the end, you have to be a good footballer and he has to do a real job.

"That's the assessment I have to make in the next few days."

Djetou only gets his chance because Allardyce is struggling to find 11 fit outfield players after losing three of his squad Senegal pair El-Hadji Diouf and Abdoulaye Faye and the Tunisian Radhi Jaidi to the African Nations Cup and being without the suspended trio of Kevin Davies, Kevin Nolan and Ivan Campo while Gary Speed (knee) and Nicky Hunt (bruised shin) have joined long-term absentee, Henrik Pedersen, on the casualty list.

Thw roll call summed up the staff shortage the manager has been warning about for months but has been powerless to prevent.

"Joey O'Brien, Tal Ben Haim, Bruno N'Gotty, Ricardo Gardner, Hidetoshi Nakata, Khalilou Fadiga (if he comes through), Jay Jay Okocha, Ricardo Vaz Te, Jared Borgetti, Stelios and Martin Djetou . . ." Allardyce said, counting down his squad list.

"That's it. They are all the outfield players I have to get us through and, hopefully, avoid any more injuries.

"They are the only players I have to send out against a very strong, confident Watford side that will be looking forward to taking a big Premiership scalp.

"It's going to be tough, but it's something we knew was coming.

"We've been hit harder than we expected but at least we know we'll have more available for the Blackburn game next week."

Wanderers have tried to plug the gaps left by their African Nations Cup crew, which will increase to four when Jay Jay Okocha joins up with Nigeria on Sunday, but every attempt to sign players on loan as short term cover, has failed, leaving Allardyce deeply frustrated and more desperate than ever to see the likes of Nakata and Borgetti come up to Premiership scratch while Fadiga is an unexpected bonus, having been surprisingly omitted from the Senegal squad.

"We've had a slight reprieve with Khali not going, but he's never really established himself as a Premiership player anyway," he said of the former Lens midfielder.

"There are still question marks about him and I wonder whether he can produce the kind of performances I know he is capable of but which we haven't seen on a consistent basis. It's the same with Hide.

"I just hope they all grasp this chance with both hands and take it on from here. We've seen the emergence of Abdoulaye Faye and Joey O'Brien, who have been bonuses for us this season, and now I'd like to see Khalilou Fadiga and Hide Nakata start producing performances week in and week out, not just now and again."