Wanderers aim to take a huge step towards the Champions League at Highbury.

Sam Allardyce believes Wanderers will finish in the top four if they end the season above Arsenal.

And they have a big chance to achieve that end when they go for the treble over the Gunners.

Wanderers have already upset Arsene Wenger's men twice this season with a comprehensive 2-0 home victory in the Premiership and the recent 1-0 FA Cup fourth round triumph.

Indeed, Allardyce has a tremendous home record against Arsenal since he took Wanderers into the top flight five seasons ago.

They lost in Allardyce's first season in the Premiership, in 2001/02, since when Wanderers have drawn two and won two in the league at home.

It is a different matter away, however, where Wanderers have taken two points out of a possible 12 at Highbury.

Never before have the two clubs been so close in the table and Wanderers have the chance to leapfrog Wenger's stuttering side if they manage to pull off a victory.

With a game in hand on the Gunners, Wanderers have the best chance they have ever had of finishing above the North London giants.

Allardyce concedes it could be his club's best chance of ever bettering Arsenal's final league position.

And, if they take it, the Wanderers boss believes a Champions League place will almost certainly follow.

He said: "At the start of the season you would say that if you finish above Arsenal you will be in the top four spot.

"You would say that was an absolute certainty and I still think that is the case.

"But it is about finishing in fourth spot above all the other sides and we have stiff opposition from Wigan and Spurs as well. It is great situation to be in. We've also got the other two distractions of the UEFA Cup and FA Cup which we have to focus on, too.

"It is crucial that the squad is coming together again at such a crucial stage of the season.

"It is going to be important that we capitalise on our matches in hand when they come around."

Allardyce is disappointed not to be going into the game two points ahead of Arsenal instead of two points behind with a game in hand.

The only cloud hanging over this week's warm weather training camp in Dubai has been the memory of dropping four points in the last two games. Allardyce would be delighted with a similar performance to the one which rocked Arsenal in the reverse league fixture but he is not sure if his side will have the manpower to be as physical as it was in that game.

He said: "What kind of game it will be will depend on the selection of both sides on the day.

"When we played in the league we were both fielding players who were on top of their game and in full flow.

"Since then, both clubs' first elevens have been depleted.

"When we played in the cup I didn't have a lot of my more physical players available to me and we out-footballed them to win that game.

"Arsenal were the ones who tried to be more physical. They committed 19 fouls and had five bookings and we made 11 fouls and had one booking. They still couldn't knock us off our game.

"The small number of players who have done so well to remain unbeaten while so many players have been injured or away deserve every credit.

"They have probably even surprised me with the consistency that they have shown.

"Now I don't have as great a fear about going into this game with my back-up squad as I had when we lost all those players a few weeks ago.

"The whole squad has been doing its job magnificently well and I hope it continues."