KEVIN Nolan believes his England chances have been affected by the perception of Bolton as a small club.

The 24-year-old has yet to win a senior cap but has been tipped to be given a chance at some stage by new national team boss Steve McClaren.

However, the Liverpudlian believes he would have already received greater recognition if he was playing for one of the Premiership's `big four'.

"To be quite honest, I am pretty sure I would have broken into the England squad by now if I was playing for Manchester United or Liverpool," he said.

"I do think the Bolton thing holds you back a bit. No disrespect to them at all but some people see us a smaller club - clearly, I disagree with that.''

Discussions

Nolan, who has had discussions with Republic of Ireland manager Steve Staunton about the possibility of playing for them, insists he has great support and backing from Wanderers boss Sam Allardyce, saying: "It is always a boost to hear him say I should be in the England squad."

Meanwhile, Allardyce says that the door is still open for Matt Jansen to resurrect his career at the Reebok.

The Bolton boss, who also revealed that he has been in the hunt for former Deportivo La Coruna striker Tristan, confirmed that Jansen is not just training with the club as a favour.

"We can help each other if, at the end of this stint, Matt can recapture the talent he has and reproduce it on a regular basis," said Allardyce, who handed the 28-year-old seven appearances in an injury-hit four-month spell earlier this year.

"Last year, Matt's problems came down to a torn cartilage but then he couldn't recapture what we had seen in the first two or three weeks he had with us."

Former é4m man Jansen, who as a youngster turned down United for Crystal Palace, was released and returned to Bolton to train when he failed to agree terms with New York Bulldogs.

Do you think Nolan is international class? Have your say.

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