KEVIN NOLAN is one goal away from a career tally of 50 goals for Bolton Wanderers.

The Wanderers skipper will be hoping to achieve this landmark figure at Stamford Bridge at the weekend as his team goes head to head with Chelsea on the final day of the season.

It seems such a long time ago when the fresh-faced teenager netted his first professional goal during a Nationwide League Division One encounter with Crewe Alexandra in December 2000. In what was only his 20th senior appearance for Wanderers, the Academy graduate netted a last-minute strike to put the finishing touches on a 4-1 victory.

Kevin Nolan's first ever professional goal.

Kevin Nolan opens up his Bolton Wanderers goalscoring account with a last-minute strike against Crewe Alexandra (December 2000)

He went onto score a further two goals that season, both coming in a 5-2 FA Cup victory against Scunthorpe, as Wanderers won promotion back to the Premier League, courtesy of a 3-0 play-off final triumph over Preston North End at the Millennium Stadium.

The Merseysider didn't waste anytime in making his mark on the Premier League. He netted two goals on this top-flight debut as Wanderers trounced Leicester City 5-0 to push the Club to the top of the table.

Kevin Nolan's first ever Premier League goal

The midfielder nets the first of his two goals against Leicester City in a 5-0 thrashing of the Foxes on the opening day of season 2001/2002

But the goals didn't stop there. A couple of months later he put Wanderers on course for a shock victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford when he cancelled out Juan Veron's opener. Michael Ricketts went on to score a memorable winner. (Who could also forget the following season when lightning struck twice with Nolan's only goal of the game proving to be enough?)

He went on to score eight goals that campaign, including a stunning free-kick past Aston Villa's Peter Schmeichel, for Wanderers that season as Sam Allardyce's men avoided relegation.

As well having the habit of grabbing crucial goals for Wanderers, Nolan is also more than capable of landing audacious strikes. Remember his overhead kick against Portsmouth a couple of seasons ago, or what about that unbelievable volley against Blackburn Rovers at the Reebok Stadium earlier this season?

Kevin Nolan's stunning strike against Blackburn Rovers

 Kevin Nolan scores from a spectacular volley against Blackburn Rovers earlier this season.

Will the skipper get his 50th goal before the end of the season? bwfcBET have the Wanderers skipper at 11/2 to score at anytime during our game against Chelsea on Sunday. Get betting with bwfcBET now!