WANDERERS boss Lawrie Sanchez will instruct his rampant Blues to build on Saturday's five goal blitz by knocking Bristol Rovers out of the Worthington Cup at Adams Park tonight. (ko 7.45pm).

The Blues hammered Wrexham 5-2 in their first home league game on Saturday and Sanchez wants them to carry on where they left off by sinking the third division side.

In a bid to build on the goal avalanche, Sanchez will have his buoyant players in for more shooting practice this morning.

Four of Saturday's goals came from set-pieces and Blues will brush up on their dead ball moves today before facing Rovers.

But Sanchez could be about to tinker with his winning side. Even though defenders Paul McCarthy and Mark Rogers have recovered from the knocks they received on Saturday, he's considering changes.

After last season's run to the FA Cup semi-finals blew Wanderers' play-off bid off course Sanchez is putting league success before cup glory. And with league matches coming up against Blackpool on Saturday and QPR on Monday he might rotate his team tonight.

Saturday's man-of-the-match Paul Emblen could be a victim of that as Sanchez is keen not to let him overdo it after two years out.

He said: "My team is not fixed in my mind. There may be a couple of changes. Emblen has been out for two years, he wants to play but we've got to look after him and that's why we took him off on Saturday. It's a matter of trying to pick a winning team bearing in mind that we've got a big weekend ahead of us."

For the first time all tonight's first round matches will be settled over one leg.

Sanchez's own two-match touchline ban finished on Saturday but the boss is unsure whether he will return to the dugout or stay in the stands for the match which also marks the unveiling of Wycombe's new super-strength floodlights.

But Rovers are out to spoil the party. They have won their first two matches in the basement division, since Wanderers sent them down last May and the West Country men are out for revenge.

And in Nathan Ellington the striker Sanchez tried to buy off them for a club record £450,000 this summer they have the firepower to cause Wycombe problems.

Ellington and fellow strike partner Ross Weare scored in Bristol's weekend win at Scunthorpe where Weare made an early exit moments after scoring the Pirates' second. But that shouldn't keep him out of the action tonight.

But left-back Trevor Challis, who was stretchered off at Scunthorpe with a gashed thigh, will miss the trip.

Rovers boss Gerry Francis is delighted with his side's 100 per cent start to the campaign but says they will face a stiffer test tonight.

He said: "Wycombe had a great FA Cup run last season, made themselves a bit of money, and Lawrie Sanchez has been utilising that over the summer. They are a higher division and it is going to be a very tough test but we want to keep our winning run going."

August 21, 2001 12:44