Nolan: Big Sam nailed us

Kevin Nolan has revealed Bolton received an ear-bashing from Sam Allardyce.

Bolton Wanderers skipper Kevin Nolan has revealed the team received an ear-bashing from manager Sam Allardyce in midweek.

The Trotters crashed out of the Carling Cup at the quarter final stage after a 2-0 defeat at Wigan Athletic and Allardyce was far from happy.

Bolton's defending came in for fierce criticism from the Reebok chief with Radhi Jaidi clearly at fault for one of Jason Roberts's goals.

"The gaffer said his piece," said Nolan, who has taken over the armband from Jay-Jay Okocha.

"He went to every individual player and nailed them, and rightly so because it was a very poor performance after Saturday's great win at Everton.

"It's a major disappointment for me. Being captain, I wanted to lead the team out in the semi-final and, hopefully, a final.

"But we were very sloppy and we've let the fans down."

Bolton travel to struggling Sunderland on Boxing Day in their next outing.

"We now have to put this to bed," he added. "Learn from it and look forward to the Sunderland game and give the fans something to cheer about next week."