By Mark Heys
July 21 2005

Kevin Nolan hopes that success during the coming season will force the critics to drop their continued jibes about Bolton Wanderers. The 23-year old is of the opinion that the current squad is the best that he has ever worked with since signing up to the Trotters professional ranks midway through the 1999-2000 season.

He feels standards are high within the camp, and the current players are more than able to cope with the challenge that lies ahead of them next season, despite insignificant moves in the transfer market this summer.

"The standards we are setting ourselves are getting higher and higher and each year we keep raising the bar. I never encountered such a talented squad of players in the five years I've been at the Club. The experience we have here is a credit to the manager and what he has achieved.

"Even though Sam Allardyce has had a frustrating time in the transfer market, we do have a significant number of players that can take this club on to new levels of performance."

Nolan is looking forward to the prospect of playing in the UEFA Cup next season, and he feels that progression against European opposition will help quell the jibes which Wanderers have had directed at them over the last couple of seasons by pundits and critics throughout football.

"The biggest personal goal I have set myself this season is to play at my highest level in the UEFA Cup competition. I want to give it my best shot and hopefully help the Club progress to the latter stages of the tournament.

The league will always remain our priority, but a strong European campaign will stop all the critics having a go at us saying that we are overachieving. The players want to bring success to the Club and glory in Europe would give us the foundations we need to create the right noises that we are no longer a small town team in England. We are much bigger than that and Europe will see us at our best."