SAM Allardyce re-emphasised the special requirements of the Premiership as he ran the rule over an unemployed World Cup striker - and suggested he may not come up to scratch.

The Wanderers' boss is giving a trial to Milan Osterc, the 27-year-old Slovenian international who is looking for a club after being released by the Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv.

Osterc is 27 and has won 45 international caps but is struggling to convince clubs to give him a chance. But, having been released by Tel Aviv before the August 31 deadline, he is not subject to the ban on signings outside the transfer windows.

Allardyce explained: "He has not trained with a club since playing in the World Cup and the obvious question is 'How far is he behind the rest?'

"The answer is 'quite a bit!' But we can have a look at him and see if he can do us a job."