Sam Allardyce, the manager of English Premiership side Bolton Wanderers, claims it is "outrageous" that Nigerian captain Jay-Jay Okocha will miss the Carling Cup semi-finals because of international duty. Allardyce saw his side beat Southampton in the quarter-finals with a dramatic late goal by Henrik Pedersen.
The semi-finals will take place towards the end of January, a period when the inspirational Bolton captain Okocha will be preparing for the 2004 Nations Cup finals in Tunisia.
"It is an outrageous situation for us to be in," said Allardyce. "We could pay a heavy price."
He added: "It's a great shame for him and a great shame for us.
"The fact is, I can't have my skipper for one of the most crucial games in the history of this club which could get us to Millennium Stadium.
"That for me shouldn't happen." Allardyce paid tribute to Saints goalkeeper Antti Niemi for keeping his side at bay until extra-time.
"I thought we were going to have to play until tomorrow to beat that keeper.
"In the space of the first 10 minutes he pulled off three world class saves but we are very pleased to be going through."
Southampton manager Gordon Strachan said: "We were very poor in the first half and I made a couple of changes which changed the game for us.
"We looked physically and mentally stronger and we got into the stride of things and did very well from that point on.
"There was a lot of good football being played but it was just unfortunate we didn't get the breaks."
MMIX
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There was a lot of good football being played but it was just unfortunate we didn't get the breaks 