Wanderers fear a City backlash at the Reebok on Saturday.

The Whites know they achieved one of their luckiest ever Premiership wins at Eastlands in September and expect Stuart Pearce's Blues, buoyed by their triumph in the Manchester derby, to come looking for revenge.

Sam Allardyce, whose selection options have again been restricted by international calls, injury and suspension, has warned his players to expect a tough derby duel against one of their main rivals as they look for another top six finish.

"Our problems are well documented while City will be full of confidence after their magnificent derby win," the Wanderers boss said on the eve of the Reebok derby (kick off 3pm), which will be played on a newly-laid pitch. "On top of that, they will remember what we did to them at their place and they'll want to get their own back.

"We've just got to make sure they don't do to us what we did to Everton, who stung us here and got a good hiding at their place."

Wanderers, looking decidedly jaded after playing their first UEFA Cup tie three days earlier, had a last minute penalty from Gary Speed to thank for securing one of the most undeserved 1-0 wins imaginable at the City of Manchester Stadium.

"We were extremely fortunate there," Allardyce recalled. "Only good fortune on our part and bad finishing on Manchester City's allowed us to win the game.

"We discovered that day how difficult it was to win a Premiership match after playing in Europe, but we got away with it."

Already having lost El-Hadji Diouf, Abdoulaye Faye, Radhi Jaidi and Jay Jay Okocha to the African Cup of Nations and still without Henrik Pedersen, who is now into his fourth month on the sidelines with an Achilles problem, Wanderers have been further hit by Hidetoshi Nakata's suspension following his red card at Blackburn and Speed's lingering injury problem.

The veteran midfielder, whose fitness and durability are legendary, is expected to miss his third game with knee ligament damage he suffered in the 2-2 home draw with Liverpool on January 2.

In contrast, Pearce's only injury doubt is centre-back Richard Dunne, who is unlikely to be available after limping out of the 3-1 victory over United with a knee injury.

Allardyce, who angrily took the Blues boss to task after he lodged an unsuccessful bid for Stelios on the first day of the season, laughed off the spat while voicing his admiration for the job Pearce is doing at City.

"They've started the season well," he added. "They are in the top half of the table and, if they stay there or thereabouts, like ourselves, they will be looking to finish in a UEFA Cup spot.

"This looks like being a hell of a difficult game indeed for us.

"Our form has dipped recently - we haven't won a Premiership game for four matches and that can't go on if we want to maintain our position in the top half."