Nolan was left in awe of Keane's inspirational rollicking at Man United stars

Nolan, now a first-team coach at West Ham, lined up for the Trotters in an early-season showdown against Sir Alex Ferguson's side, who were hell-bent on wrestling back the title from champions Arsenal.

United were given a huge fright late on when it looked as though they were going to fall to a second defeat in five games but a moment of inspiration from captain Keane helped the Red Devils salvage an unlikely point through David Bellion.

"I loved playing against him," Nolan told talkSPORT of his battles with the Irishman. "There was one time we played them [Manchester United] at the Reebok [former name of Bolton's stadium].

"I scored and it was 1-1, then Les Ferdinand scored in the last minute, we thought we'd won.

"I remember going back to the half-way line, he [Keane] was just standing there absolutely rollicking everyone saying we've still got time here…and it ended up 2-2.

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"As I walked off the pitch, I just looked at him and thought 'wow, what a player' because no matter what he didn't think he was beaten until that final whistle went."

Nolan forged a good top-flight career which saw him represent Newcastle and West Ham before stints at Leyton Orient and Notts County.

Despite earning two caps for England at Under-21 level, Nolan was unable to break into the senior set-up and previously admitted he felt 'hurt' by being regularly overlooked.

But the former midfielder remained focused on his performances at club level and spoke of the enjoyment felt at duelling with a host of iconic Premier League stars,

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"When you know you're going up against a top-class individual and world-class players, there's nothing better.

"Those little moments that you've had against them, you think, 'yeah, I done something here well and I've got a bit of respect.

"I played in an era that was probably the best the Premier League has seen."