AMIR Khan could be just one step away from a world title, but his coach is anxious not to rush the Bolton superstar.

The 22-year-old puts his hopes of reclaiming a world title ranking firmly on the line when he meets Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera at the MEN Arena tomorrow, but Freddie Roach is still being cautious.

The fight has been billed as a WBO title eliminator, but the American was quick to play down talk of an immediate shot at a world title.

“It is an eliminator but we have to see how he does in this fight before we make any decisions,” said the world famous coach who runs the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, where Khan has trained for six weeks ahead of this fight.

“I’m not sure who the mandatory title will be against. If they want us to fight Juan Manuel Marquez next then we will think about that, but I believe we need two or three more fights with him to perfect everything.”

Roach acknowledges he has ironed out one of Khan’s weaknesses – his susceptibility to the left hook – which cost him his first defeat against Colombian Breidis Prescott last September.

“If I know Barrera he’ll be studying the Prescott tape and he’s going to be looking for the left hook,” he warned. “Amir has made mistakes and got hit by that shot many times in the past.

“But I think we’ve corrected that mistake and we’re not going to put ourselves in that bad situation, I hope.

“If he does we could be in trouble and that is something this guy will take advantage of.”

Khan has been working hard in Los Angeles with his stablemate, world champion Manny Pacquiao, who defeated Barrera 18 months ago, in an attempt to shore up his defence ahead of the bout.

Now Roach is hoping he will put into practice what he has learned and bide his time before delivering the knock-out punch.

“He likes to exchange, he likes to finish,” he said. “If he hurts someone he’ll go after him and I told him just to take his time and break this guy down.

“I told him ‘don’t knock him out until he's ready to go’.”