Manchester United are licking their wounds after being knocked out of the Champions League by Bayern Munich - a result that meant there is no English club in the semi-finals for the first time since 2003. But Allardyce, whose Blackburn side take on United at Ewood Park on Sunday, insists this is not due to a fall in quality. The Rovers boss said: "I don't think the Premier League is getting worse, I would say the demand on the Premier League players is greater than those playing in Europe and that may be one of the reasons as to why they have faltered this year. "To make sure they stay in the top four is a huge amount of pressure on the players and it's constant. "We seem to be picking more injuries up than the foreign clubs are and later on in the season you start paying the price and this year it looks as though we have. "Look at the fact Wayne Rooney wasn't 100% fit the other night and they tried to play him and he had to come off. "Look at the players Arsenal had missing, it's been an unfortunate year for us but I don't think it will repeat itself." Allardyce is relieved that Rooney will not be available on Sunday and is hoping that the reigning champions' players will still be feeling the effects of Wednesday's encounter. He added: "We would hope there's some fatigue left in their team. "Some of the players who played on Wednesday will be playing and there will be a certain amount of fatigue, physically and mentally, amongst those players compared to ours. "They are the wounded animal at the moment but history shows they come fighting back better than most. "We have to deny them space to get their normal passing game going and not sitting back." Allardyce's biggest selection dilemma is whether to recall his skipper Ryan Nelsen to the starting line-up or continue with 18-year-old centre-back Phil Jones, who has made a dramatic impact in the last four games. In those four games Blackburn have been unbeaten, conceding just two goals, winning two matches and holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw. "With Phil in that position we have only conceded two goals in the last four games and in the last two away games we have had two very important clean sheets," said the Blackburn manager. "He's mastered the art of defending in this short period of time and he's made me having to make a big decision this weekend. "To ask him to step in one occasion was all right but then it became two, three and four times and the lad has not put a foot wrong yet." Blackburn have lost only three out of 27 games on their home turf since Allardyce became manager in December 2008 and he has a full squad to choose from with Nelsen, Keith Andrews and Vince Grella all available after injury.
