SAM Allardyce has urged England to include Kevin Nolan in their under 21s squad - to safeguard him for the future.

The talented 18 years old midfield player has been attracting some attention from England but he is also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland because of his Irish grandparents.

The Republic have already sounded him out, as have England but Allardyce has warned the FA not to drag their feet.

"Kevin wants to play for England, he doesn't want to play for the Republic. England should now tie him down as quickly as possible because if they don't, Kevin could well choose to play for the Irish and that would definitely be England's loss.

"I tell the hierarchy what I think but if they choose to take no notice of it then that's up to them.

"They're well aware of the Kevin Nolan situation. If they don't make the contact and don't pull him into the squad then it could be too late for them.

"I would hate to go back to them and say 'I told you so' in a few months but unfortunately that may well be the case."

Nolan impressed in the midweek defeat at Watford but Allardyce added that the young player was not alone in that.

"There were many bright spots in the game such as Ricardo Gardner coming back and playing a full match after injury, the whole of the performance of the team and the solidness of the back four. Watford didn't have a meaningful shot on target on Tuesday night and got a fortunate penalty."

"Preston won at Fulham with an own goal by the goalkeeper so perhaps we need to have that little bit of good fortune to turn us back into a winning side again."