KEVIN Nolan could be offered a chance to play for the Republic of Ireland, if Sven-Goran Eriksson fails to acknowledge his England credentials.

Sources in Dublin claim the FA of Ireland want to recruit the Wanderers midfielder for their Euro 2008 qualification campaign.

And the task of persuading him to switch his allegiance from the country of his birth to the country of his ancestors is likely to fall to Terry Venables, the former England boss who is favourite to be the next Ireland manager.

Liverpool-born Nolan, who has played for England at youth and under 21 levels, has been targeted by the FAI in the past, but previous national boss, Brian Kerr, is believed to have blocked the move.

But Kerr's departure, following Ireland's failure to qualify for the World Cup, has paved the way for the 23-year-old Nolan, who qualifies to play for Ireland through parentage, to finally make it at full international level.

Nolan has always insisted that, given the choice, he would opt for England, but the Irish are banking on his recent frustrations forcing a change of heart.

As stand-in captain and seven-goal top scorer, he is playing the best football of his career, prompting Wanderers boss, Sam Allardyce, and his teammates to lead the call for him to be drafted into the England squad.

But Nolan has played down his chances of breaking into a midfield that boasts such world class performers as Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and David Beckham with the likes of Joe Cole, Ledley King, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jermaine Jenas, Kieron Dyer and Michael Carrick.

"We've got a great quartet of midfield players in the England team who play regularly," he said, acknowledging the claims of Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, and Cole, "and the lads backing them up are all fantastic players."