Nolan cup plea

The former England U21 midfielder reckons some of Sam Allardyce's imports are questioning the importance of the competition after just 16,000 turned up for the fifth round tie against Fulham.

But he is confident a full-house against Arsenal on Saturday would not only convince the doubters, but could also inspire the Whites to a victory that would secure a place in the semi-finals.

"A lot of the lads were disappointed in the last round that we only had 16,000," Nolan said.

"Some of them must have been wondering whether this was a big competition or not because the fans hadn't come out to see it.

"But you can't blame the fans because it's a lot of money now to come and watch us, on top of paying for season tickets. Actually 16,000 is quite an achievement because I can remember games when we had only 8 to 10,000, but it is disappointing when you go out there and there are empty spaces and you're telling the foreigners what a massive competition it is. But I'm sure they celebrated when we won."

While Jussi Jaaskelainen, Ricardo Gardner, Bruno N'Gotty, Jay Jay Okocha, Ivan Campo and El-Hadji Diouf are well versed in the significance of the FA Cup, Tal Ben Haim, Fernando Hierro, Khalilou Fadiga, Radhi Jaidi and Vincent Candela are in their first season in English football and still need convincing that the Premiership is not the be all and end all.

"They haven't really experienced the excitement yet, because we haven't had a sell-out at the Reebok," Nolan said.

"But I'm sure they know the history of the FA Cup and the gaffer's drilled it into us now that he wants to win it. I certainly want to win it and the rest of the squad want to win it.

"I do hope it's a full house on Saturday because the fans really can be our 12th man."

While Arsenal will start as favourites, Arsene Wenger and his players will not relish facing Wanderers, who have caused them so many problems in the past, and specifically a trip to the Reebok, where they suffered 1-0 defeat in the Premiership in January - a result that went a long way to scuppering their hopes of retaining their title.

Not surprisingly, neither Allardyce nor his players expressed a preference when they waited for the outcome of the Gunners' fifth round replay with Sheffield United. Nolan, who has unhappy memories of last season's Carling Cup Final defeat by Middlesbrough, knows there are no easy rides in the last eight.

He said: "When you get to the quarter-finals of the cup, you're going to have to play the best, so when I found out it was Arsenal, I wasn't worried.

"Even if we'd got Sheffield United it would still have been a very difficult game. We've just got to make sure we focus and concentrate on the job we've got to do.

"Hopefully we can get another one-niller like we did in the league game here in January, get into the semi-finals and go back to Cardiff and have some happier memories of the place than last time."

With Dennis Bergkamp, Jose Antonio Reyes and Robin Van Persie available after suspension and injury problems easing, Wenger is unlikely to field as inexeperienced as side as the one that won that dramatic penalty shoot-out at Bramall Lane. But Wanderers know that whatever team he turns out will be stacked with quality and determined to reach the semi-finals.

"They want to win the FA Cup just asmuch as Manchester United or Southampton or Bolton," Nolan added.

"Hopefully they will put out a weakened side but if they do it won't be that weak because they've got probably 26 or 27 players who could probably walk straight into any team in the Premiership.

"It makes no difference whose names are on the team sheet. We still have to approach the game in the right frame of mind, get the basics right, try and play our game and shut out Arsenal.

"It's important we don't concede.

"The gaffer will be working us hard to make sure we do that and, hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, we'll be in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and still moving up the Premier League."

While FA Cup glory would be a dream come true for every Wanderer, Nolan's personal ambitions stretch far beyond a winner's medal. He has been a central figure in the Allardyce revolution that has taken the Whites from the lower reaches of the old Division One to UEFA Cup hopefuls in the space of five years and sees no limits to what they can achieve.

"I've gone forward as a player and the club is going in the right direction - that's why I signed a big contract," he said, "and I'll keep playing for Bolton Wanderers as long as their ambition stays the same as mine.

"We've got the Champions League to go for and then the Championship. That's what we want to be aiming for in the next five to 10 years. You can't just sit and be happy with what's going on.

"I certainly believe this club can keep going on and on.

"There's no reason why we can't keep pushing on and taking that step forward.

"It is hard to see past Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United at the moment but why not? It's been done before in other leagues and in this league.

"If you don't dream they can't come true. Let's hope that in five or 10 years I'm picking up a Championship medal with Bolton Wanderers.

"But, for the moment I'm just happy with the way everything's going and that we keep moving forward."