Football News

Call him old-fashioned. Call him a Premier League bully. One thing is for certain - Kevin Davies is still one of the most feared strikers in England and can play a major role in helping Bolton Wanderers retain their top-flight status.

Davies has never been regarded as a prolific forward who will score 20-plus goals every season but there is another side to his game which makes him such a valuable asset for Bolton.

Owen Coyle admits he never knew just how good Davies was until he joined the club and spent every day working alongside him on the training field.

What you get from the former Southampton and Blackburn Rovers forward is total commitment, power, aggression and the ability to upset some of the best defences in the country.

Just ask West Ham about the Bolton striker. Davies has now scored eight goals in his last ten games against the east London club.

Matthew Upson is supposed to be England's third-choice central defender, but he was made to look second best by Davies when the two sides recently met at Upton Park.

Davies scored the opening goal and played a major role in setting up the second for Jack Wilshere as Bolton recorded a crucial 2-1 victory to move above the Hammers in the table.

Bolton might not always get the recognition they deserve, but Davies was certainly attracting all the right headlines after the game.

Several national papers were even suggesting that he could be an outside 188BET to make Fabio Capello's squad for the World Cup in South Africa during the summer.

The jury is still out on whether Emile Heskey is good enough to play for his country at such an important competition. The Aston Villa striker seems a certainty to be included in the squad even though he has struggled to produce his best form for his club side this year.

Davies on the other hand has been superb for Bolton all season and must be a constant worry for opposing managers going into a game.

Gianfranco Zola must be relieved that West Ham will not have to face him again this season.

If you look at the clubs at the bottom of the table you can bet all of them would love to have a player similar to Davies in their attack as they approach a vital stage in the campaign.

Just maybe, with a new manager in charge at the Reebok, Davies could add some more goals to his game which would put him in real contention for a possible England call-up.

Coyle has no doubts that Davies would never let his country down and feels Capello should take a look at him.

He said: "I certainly hope he hasn't given up on England. I know Kevin Davies would never, ever let anybody down. The form he's in just now, if he continues that, all I would say is it might give Mr Capello food for thought, if he wants to go with that type.

"If he was given the chance, then there's no doubt he'd wear that shirt with pride and he'd do ever so well for them."