BOLTON Wanderers fear their hopes of staging England representative games could be jeopardised by a poor crowd for Friday's Under 21 international.

Although the games is not being televised, ticket sales have been slow for the England-Yugoslavia friendly and early estimates suggest the attendance could be under 10,000, which would be an embarrassment for Wanderers as the enthusiastic hosts.

Bolton fans will be put off by the absence of any local interest after U21 coach David Platt once again ignored Kevin Nolan's claim but Wanderers' chairman Phil Gartside is still hoping for a respectable crowd figure.

"If we don't get a decent crowd, there's probably no chance of us getting another representative game," the Reebok chief suggested.

"The ground is not big enough for us to attract a full international but it would be a shame not to have a few more U21s or other big representative matches."

Nolan's exclusion from the squad announced yesterday was a shock to fans of the young Wanderer, who has been capped at Under 20s level but been continually overlooked by Platt. The Liverpool-born midfielder says he is not disappointed is only looking to enhance his position as a regular for Wanderers. But there is no doubt his omission could have a damaging effect on the gate.

Platt's squad: Ameobi (Newcastle), Barry (Villa), Bramble (Newcastle), Clarke (Everton), Crouch (Villa), Defoe (West Ham), Etherington (Spurs), Evans (Chelsea), Howarth (York), Jeffers (Arsenal), Jenas (Newcastle), Kirkland (Liverpool), Konchesky (Charlton), Lescott (Wolves), O'Neil (Portsmouth), Parnaby (Middlesbrough), Pennant (Arsenal), Piper (Sunderland), Prutton (Nottm Forest), Samuel (Villa), Taylor (Portsmouth), Wright-Phillips (Man City).

Admission prices for the game (ko 8pm) are £10 for adults and £5 concessions and tickets are on sale at the Reebok.

Two other Wanderers' youngsters have had better news on the international front. Michael Byrne has been named in the Wales U-21 squad for their European Championship qualifier in Finland on Friday and Michael Gillan has been given a place in the England squad for an Under 17s tournament in Italy later this month.