INJURIES might have marred Wanderers' first appearance on American soil here on Tuesday night but their performance in the 2-0 win over Indiana Blast left a lasting impression reports Bolton Evening News Chief Soccer Writer Gordon Sharrock.

"Blast learn from English team" screamed the headline in yesterday's the Indianapolis Star, a sister paper of the Bolton Evening News in the Gannett group of companies.

Soccer, as they say over here, struggles for recognition and always will in a sports dominated City where basketball and American football are the dominant forces and where the American Formula One Grand Prix will be staged in September at the world famous Indianapolis 500 racetrack.

But Wanderers' visit has at least given the Blast the opportunity to improve their profile in the game, according to two likely Lancashire lads.

Peter Baah and Jon Pickup were on the books of Burnley and Blackburn; both played against Bolton teams at youth level and both revelled in a rare chance to pit their wits against class opposition.

"I think that shows the difference in the intensity level," Baah acknowledged. "Compared to what we are used to over here, it's like night and day.

"They were just one step ahead of us all the time. They pass and move all the time and that's something American soccer hasn't learned yet.

"This is great soccer to play against. We can learn a lot from a match like this."

Sam Allardyce's abiding memory of the game at the Kuntz Stadium will be the rash of injuries which saw him run out of substitutes, forced to send on his 41-year-old assistant Phil Brown for the final 26 minutes. As for the performance ... "A good workout for the lads," was his passing assessment.

"I think what they have that you don't see in the United States are the second and third runs on the ball that start before the ball is even played," Pickup explained. "They just anticipate so much better than any soccer you see in the United States."