Subscription Notification
Please update your billing information
Your subscription will end shortly

Allardyce aims to take advantage of psychological edge

There was a time when Sam Allardyce was little more than his good friend Sir Alex Ferguson’s corner man in his continuing heavyweight contest with Arsène Wenger, effectively knocking Arsenal out of the title race to hand Manchester United the championship four years ago. But in the intervening period, the Bolton Wanderers manager has emerged as a big hitter in his own right.

With three wins and two draws in their past five matches against Arsenal, Allardyce’s side approach tonight’s FA Cup fourth-round replay fancying their chances.

Wenger understandably sees matters differently, but conceded for the first time yesterday that Bolton have become Arsenal’s bogey side, reinforcing the belief that they have given him more problems than United, Chelsea and Liverpool during his 11-year spell