Tom Dallas needs to land his biggest shots early to boost his chances of knocking-out David Price in Saturday night's British title eliminator, his manager has said.

Chatham heavyweight Dallas will travel to the backyard of Liverpool’s unbeaten Price for the live televised showdown that is likely to lead to the victor getting a shot at the British crown currently held by Dereck Chisora.

Dallas, with a 15-0 record, has had just four days’ notice for the fight after Price’s original opponent John McDermott pulled out of with a virus.

Mark Roe, Dallas’ manager, believes that the lack of preparation will result in explosive action between the unbeaten pair, who are FTM stablemates.

Roe said: "David has been preparing for the fight against John for a long while, whereas Tom only just got back into the gym this week.

"Tom is not unfit but this is a 10-round fight and if I am honest he’s not prepared for it.

"If we are going to do it we need to do it early. Tom has the ability to knock David out and he’ll do that if he hits him correctly.

"It will be exciting and I doubt it will last the distance.

"This is a learning curve and win, lose or draw, Tom will come out of it a better fighter."

Promoter Frank Maloney first mooted the idea of pairing his two top prospects together to Roe on Tuesday night, offering a substantial rise in Dallas’ usual fight fee. No other British fighters were prepared to face Price at such short notice.

Viewers can watch Saturday’s fight on Sky Sports 1 and HD from 10pm.