Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has virtually a full squad to choose from for the visit of his old club Bolton.

Strikers Jason Roberts and Matt Derbyshire are back after missing the FA Cup match at Sunderland, as are midfielder David Dunn and defender Andre Ooijer.

Keith Treacy is doubtful and could miss out along with long-term absentee Steven Reid.

Allardyce has transformed Blackburn as a defensive unit and with five clean sheets in their last six games the club have climbed out of the bottom three.

A local derby against Bolton, the club where he really made his name - he is arguably the most successful manager in Wanderers' history - will provide another test at Ewood Park.

There will also be the chance of some personal satisfaction in achieving victory after Allardyce admitted relations with Phil Gartside are now "distant" after the Bolton chairman made some unflattering remarks when he left for Newcastle in 2007.

Allardyce was booed by some Bolton fans when he returned with the Magpies last season, but he still lives in the town and said local people are unfailingly friendly towards him.

"I have never had a word against me when people come up to me in the street," Allardyce added.

"That [booing] was just a small minority stirred up by some people behind the scenes.

"I had huge personal satisfaction as Bolton manager, dragging the club to where it was when I left. That was sadly clouded when I left by certain people but that's life.

"My relationship with the board there is distant now, but you will have to ask Phil Gartside and the board there why that is.

"That won't affect the match at all though. It's a ferocious local derby and always has been, and I'm sure this will be very similar."

New signing Mark Davies goes straight into Bolton's squad for the Ewood Park clash.

Davies, who signed from Wolves for #1million on a four-and-a-half-year deal on Monday, has spent the last two months on loan at League One leaders Leicester and is expected to be given a place on the bench.

Captain Kevin Nolan, who has had a minor operation on an ankle problem, will return to the starting line-up after missing the last two matches through suspension.

Bolton manager Gary Megson admits the club owes "a tremendous debt" to former boss Allardyce.

Despite having moved on, Allardyce's name is still synonymous with the success Wanderers achieved, including European football for the first time in their history.

Megson believes his rival will always have a place in Bolton's history, but time has moved on and the focus should be on Wednesday's match and nothing else.

"This club owes Sam a tremendous debt and the supporters know that. He has done a fantastic job for the club and Bolton did brilliantly under Sam," he said.

"Sam chose to move on. He had six months at Newcastle and it didn't work out there and he has found himself at Blackburn.

"There has been a lot of change, both in Sam's life and in what has gone on at this club.

"You can't be threatened by what has gone on before because every club - unless they are newly-formed - has a past.

"Some managers - and I'm not talking about Sam or myself - talk themselves up in terms of their input into a football club and it is a trap we mustn't fall into.

"Football is always about the players and the supporters."

The match at Ewood Park takes on added significance with the two clubs - just 15 miles apart - separated by only two points in the table.

Bolton have just one win in their last seven league matches - and no points from the last four - during which they faced the top five of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Arsenal.

"They set off well under his (Allardyce's) management," Megson added. "He is a proven manager and has tightened things up at Blackburn and has got them scoring goals.

"I saw an interview that Sam did when he said it always adds a bit of spice when you are playing against someone you worked for because you want to beat them a little bit more.

"They did that against Newcastle. That was a big thing for him and it will probably be exactly the same from Sam's point of view in the game against ourselves.

"But this is important to us because of the run we have been on. We have to beat the teams in and around us. We have done that on a consistent basis this season and we have to do that again."