Van der Vaart dreams of Wembley debut

Tottenham midfielder Rafael van der Vaart is desperate to realise his dream of playing at Wembley for the first time.

The 29-year-old was in the Netherlands squad for the friendly against England last month but was forced to pull out with an injury.

The former Real Madrid star has now set his sights on walking out on the famous pitch in the FA Cup semi-final, and is hoping that Spurs can see off quarter-final opponents Bolton without the need of a replay.

He told the club’s official website: “Wembley is a special stadium and because I missed the friendly against England I’ve never played there.”

“It’s always difficult in the FA Cup, but we will play at home against Bolton so we’ll be strong and we have a good chance of making the semi-finals and playing at Wembley.”

Harry Redknapp’s side have already beaten Bolton 3-0 in the Premier League this season, but van der Vaart insisted that this counts for nothing when.

“It won’t make a difference on Saturday,” he said. “It’s a separate game and we have to win, we don’t want a replay.”

Bolton may be encouraged by Spurs’ poor form, after three consecutive Premier League defeats – the latest a 1-0 reverse against Everton on Saturday – all but ended their title challenge and saw rivals Arsenal close to within one point in the table.

Meanwhile, Bolton are enjoying a revival after climbing out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over QPR.