CARLING Cup celebrations were cut short as Sam Allardyce counted the cost of taking Wanderers to their first major final for nine years.

Feelings of relief and delight gave way to the practical assessment of how Tuesday night's dramatic semi-final "triumph" at Villa Park will impact on the club's Premiership prospects.

Fears over the fitness of left-back Simon Charlton and the knowledge that young right-back Nicky Hunt will be suspended for the Leicester game in a fortnight, has again cast doubts over Wanderers' defensive capabilities, so the manager was back at his desk, launching a desperate late bid to sign reinforcements ahead of Saturday's transfer deadline.

"There's no time for celebrations," he insisted. "I've got to make sure this squad is bolstered before the weekend and the players have to start their recuperation and be ready for a very important game at Charlton on Saturday.

"We can't afford an anti-climax after what we have achieved, and securing new players is now an absolute must for me."

Middlesbrough are favourites to meet Wanderers in the Carling Cup Final at the Millennium Stadium on February 29. They take a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their semi-final against Arsenal at the Riverside but Allardyce says he has no preference as he looks forward to his first appearance in a major cup final as either player or manager.

"It is going to be a proud day for me," he said, looking forward to a return visit to Cardiff, where Wanderers beat Preston in the First Division play-off final of May 2001. "I can order the new suit, new tie and the carnation and look forward to an afternoon that won't have the same stresses and strains of the play-off final. It will be a more romantic occasion, more carefree.

"Its a great achievement for the team. We're a small squad, playing very well together. We've been down to the bones -- having 17-year-old Ricardo Vaz Te on the subs' bench shows the difficulties we've got. But they are very talented players. They've shown how talented they are by reaching a major final and getting to 10th in the Premiership. Now they've got to keep that momentum going."

Today Wanderers were linked with Frnando Couto, the 34 years old Portugal defender, who has been capped 96 times for his country.