Hamburg striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has warned his side to be wary of Anderlecht youngster Romelu Lukaku.

The Dutchman singled out striker Romelu Lukaku as the one the hosts need to keep a close eye on at the the HSV-Arena.

"Anderlecht have one of Belgium's if not the world's biggest talents in their side with the 16-year-old Romelo Lukaku," he said.

The teenager, who is already a Belgium international, has scored three times in Europe so far this term and set up a further four goals.

He has scored 13 times in 23 Jupiler League appearances and has already reportedly attracted the interest of many of the continents' biggest clubs. More than 50 scouts from across Europe are reportedly due at the HSV-Arena tomorrow night.

Former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward Van Nistelrooy is himself hoping to play some part tomorrow night after a few weeks struggling with injury.

"I have been able to work hard on myself and am now more ready to play than I was a few weeks ago," he said.

"But of course I cannot play 90 minutes every three or four days."

The 33-year-old has appeared four times for Hamburg since arriving from Madrid in January, but has not been on the pitch for longer than 25 minutes.

A thigh strain has kept him out recently and coach Bruno Labbadia has so far resisted the temptation to play him more.

Van Nistelrooy fully agrees with that decision.

"I would prefer to always play, I am like a kid in that respect and you've just got to stop me," he said.

"Yet it is important to dose things in a phase like this and the coach is doing that very well."

Labbadia knows his side face a stern test tomorrow against a side who swept past Athletic Bilbao 5-1 on aggregate in the last round.

"Anderlecht are tough opponents, but you cannot expect anything else in the last 16 of the Europa League," said the Hamburg coach.

"This is football at the highest level."

He is looking for his side to establish a commanding first-leg lead to take to Brussels.

"We have started a (winning) streak in the Bundesliga and now we are concentrating on the Europa League," he said.

"We have the quality to go well ahead in the first leg to reduce the pressure on us in the second leg."

Anderlecht may boast one of the most promising young players in Europe, but coach Ariel Jacobs admitted his biggest challenge is keeping hold of such players.

"You have got to admit in all honesty that it is very tough for a Belgian club nowadays to compete with the top teams from Spain, England and obviously also Germany," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper.

"As soon as a player reaches a certain level, they normally want to move to a big league."