SAM Allardyce has urged his out-of-favour stars to stay "cool and calm" as Wanderers prepare for the final phase of their push for Europe.

Jay Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo and Henrik Pedersen all had to watch from the bench as the Whites beat Norwich at the Reebok on Saturday to record their ninth win in 10 Premiership games to stay on course for a top six finish and the guarantee of at least a UEFA Cup place.

But Allardyce has assured them that they could all still have parts to play in the eight-match run-in.

"We've got some great lads who are really happy and some lads who are really miserable because they want to be playing in a winning side," he said.

"But they can't because of the competition.

"So they'll just have to stay cool and calm because between now and the end of the season we'll probably have to use quite a lot of them."

The presence of Okocha and Campo on the subs bench was a measure of the depth of talent Allardyce has at his disposal as Wanderers go from strength to strength as a Premiership force.

The captain passed a fitness test on the hamstring injury that kept him out of the FA Cup tie against Arsenal but could not win an automatic recall, while the Spaniard, once said to be one of the first names on the team sheet, lost his place to his former Real Madrid team-mate, Fernando Hierro, for the game at Newcastle and has been unable to force his way back.

With El-Hadji Diouf starting a three-match suspension for his sending off against Arsenal, top scorer Pedersen had been tipped for a recall. But Allardyce opted instead to play Vincent Candela at left-back and give Ricardo Gardner a more attacking role.

In the end it was Stelios who emerged the matchwinner with a stunning 42nd minute strike for his fifth goal of the season and a performance that drew high praise from his manager.

"He's been playing extremely well for a while," Allardyce said. "The goals have given him confidence and his performances have been excellent.

"With the competition we have now, winning a place on the front line is very difficult. It was made slightly easier with Dioufy being out but our leading scorer could still not get a game."