NICOLAS Anelka will go a long way to securing his Reebok future if he fires Wanderers into Europe.

Sam Allardyce knows the Frenchman is desperate to play Champions League football again, but reckons the prospect of a UEFA Cup campaign might be enough to keep him on board.

And he has put the onus on Anelka to make sure it happens.

"If we're going to get European football then it's down to him to do it," the Wanderers boss said.

"It's in his hands more than mine. If he pops up with three or four goals in the last five games he is going to make sure we finish in Europe."

Latest rumours claim Anelka will be a transfer target for Juventus in the summer.

But he goes to the Emirates tomorrow, knowing that if he can repeat the two-goal performance that helped Wanderers beat Arsenal 3-1 at the Reebok in November, he may not have to move anywhere to satisfy his ambition to play Champions League football.

Allardyce was hoping Anelka would have weighed in with a few more goals to justify the £8m Wanderers spent to bring him back to the Premiership from Fenerbahce last summer.

But, if the 28-year-old striker reproduces the scoring form that saw him hit seven goals in eight games in mid-winter, no one will be complaining, least of all the manager.

"You always think a player could have done a bit more, but nine of his 10 (Premiership) goals have contributed massively to us winning games," Allardyce added.

"There's only one goal, when he scored against Blackburn when we were 2-0 down, that has not helped us win a match.

"When he scored his goals around November and December, we won every game. That's how important his goals have been to us. So if he can hit that sort of goalscoring form again now, that will help us win most of our last five matches."

Although it was at Arsenal where Anelka matured as a world-class striker, Allardyce says facing his former club is of no particular significance.

"I don't think he is over-fussed about going back anywhere he has played. He is only focused on the future," the manager said.