SUCCESSIVE victories at Old Trafford will long be remembered as two of the most satisfying results in the modern history of Bolton Wanderers.

But, as they celebrated those triumphs of 2001 and 2002, a sobering thought crossed the mind: what price would they pay for pulling the tiger's tail?

No one was ever under any illusions. Taking nothing away from Sam Allardyce's Premiership upstarts, who took advantage of a distracted Manchester United, the two wins were shocks of monumental proportions. And anyone thinking there would be no retribution was sorely mistaken Make no mistake, he might have smiled sportingly and offered handshakes all round, but Sir Alex Ferguson never takes kindly to being beaten, especially at Old Trafford, and Wanderers fans won't need reminding that they haven't savoured victory in eight subsequent meetings.

They came close twice: at the Reebok in February 2003 when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's injury-time equaliser denied Wanderers the distinction of claiming a Premiership double; and in September 2004, when another last-gasp goal, credited against the unfortunate Nicky Hunt, salvaged another draw for Fergie's men. But, in the main, the Reds have ruthlessly exacted revenge for those two surprise setbacks - and never more effectively or efficiently as they did at the Reebok in October.

That was the fourth time in the last 11 meetings that United have scored four in these fixtures and was by far the most convincing, with a display of football of a calibre even they would struggle to replicate.

Sam Allardyce, who understands and respects Ferguson as much as any other rival manager, believes Wanderers have been made to pay dearly for those early successes.

"We won there two years on the trot and Sir Alex has never forgotten that," he said.

"We took full advantage of playing them when they were in the middle of Champions League ties or had their minds on bigger Premiership games and he changed his side dramatically - six or seven changes as I recall. That disrupted his side and we took advantage, by not attacking and living on what we could get on the break.

"Ever since then they've battered us. In some cases we've played better than we did in those two victories, but still ended up losing."

Kevin Nolan, who secured himself a place in Bolton folklore when he scored in both those Old Trafford wins, makes no bones about what it will take for Wanderers to pull off another shock result tomorrow.

"You have to take your chances on the day and hope that a few of their team, actually the vast majority of them, have an off day!" the Whites' skipper said in an honest appraisal of the gulf in quality between the Premiership leaders and title favourites and the team currently lying a highly respectable fifth in the table.

That would be the case even if Wanderers were on top of their game, but they aren't. They have won just two of their eight league games since the turn of the year and, after successive defeats at Spurs and at home to Blackburn, their UEFA Cup hopes are suddenly under serious threat.

"Old Trafford would not be top of the list of venues you would choose to visit when your team is in the midst of a spell of poor form," Nolan wrote in his weekly column on the BBC website.

"But the wins have to start somewhere - and we believe it can happen at United?

"We won there in 2001 and 2002 - and on those days we did take the opportunities that came our way."

Despite their own concerns, Wanderers have been encouraged by the manpower shortage that will rob Ferguson of the services of Paul Scholes, who is suspended, and Solskjaer, Louis Saha, Darren Fletcher, Edwin van der Sar and Mikael Silvestre, who are all injured.

Nolan admits he will miss the chance to lock horns with Scholes - a player he holds in the highest esteem - but on this occasion he is relieved not to have the former England man to contend with.

"As a midfielder, he is the sort of player I love to test myself against," he added. "But, looking at it another way, United missing first-team regulars gives us a better chance, so I'm not too disappointed!

"The fact that United will have players missing does not affect the way we prepare for the fixture - we know that they will still field a strong side.

"They have a great, great squad and have been fantastic this season.

"Watching them play you can really see their hunger and, although I think Chelsea will push them all the way, I expect Sir Alex Ferguson's team to finish the season as Premiership champions."