Doughty Davies blossoms with age

THE modern Premier League might be the natural home of hype and hyperbole, but some players are apparently fated to defy convention.

Take Kevin Davies, for example. The Bolton captain will never be an ideal poster boy for the self-styled greatest league in the world — his default expression is one of snarling aggression and two of the division’s A-list managers, Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, have never been shy in hiding their annoyance with his physical approach.

But, to Bolton, he is an inspiration. His tireless displays have helped Wanderers more than hold their own in the Premier League and age does not appear to have dulled his edge.

Davies, now the club captain, has not let his new duties get in the way of his game and scored his 10th goal of the campaign in this tense victory — the first time he has reached double figures in the Premier League.

At 31, Davies seems to be peaking, having taken the armband from Kevin Nolan following the midfielder’s departure to Newcastle last month.

“He has been outstanding and taken to the captaincy brilliantly as well,” said defender Gary Cahill.

“All the players back him 100 per cent, because he leads by example. If everyone followed his effort and determination we would be in the top half of the table.

“Kevin is just getting better. He will keep improving until the end of the season. His confidence is high and he must believe he is going to score in every game, which is brilliant.”

Davies extended Bolton’s lead in the 11th minute with a neat finish after good footwork from Johan Elmander.

That rocked West Ham, who had found themselves behind two minutes earlier when Matt Taylor delivered a superb free-kick from 20 yards.

West Ham kept plugging away and pulled a goal back in the 66th minute when Scott Parker finished off a Jonathon Spector cross.

Bolton held on for a crucial win, but their form this season remains patchy. Newcastle visit on Sunday, and Wanderers boss Gary Megson said: “We are mid-table, having playing seven of our eight games against the big four. We need to keep doing the stuff we do well and settle down when we get on top.”

Bolton have also dismissed a report claiming Megson will be axed and replaced by Burnley manager Owen Coyle at the end of the season.

Meanwhile, West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola is due to assess the fitness of defender James Collins, carried off with a hamstring injury after just 15 minutes.

Zola said: “I do not know how long he is going to be out, but it doesn’t look good. We’ll know more after a scan.”

“My only complaint is we did not take the chances we created. The performance deserved something more. But this is football. It is a good lesson for us.”

BOLTON (4-4-2): Jaaskelainen 6, Steinsson 7, Cahill 7, Puygrenier 6 (A O’Brien 73, 7), Samuel 6, K Davies 8, M Davies 7, McCann 7, Gardner 6, Taylor 7, Elmander 6 (Muamba 76, 5).

Subs Not Used: Al Habsi, Smolarek, Makukula, Shittu, Basham.

WEST HAM (4-4-2): Green 6, Spector 6 (Sears 85, 5), Collins 5 (Tomkins 16, 6), Upson 6, Ilunga 6, Behrami 6, Parker 7, Noble 6, Collison 5 (Nsereko 62, 5), Cole 6, Di Michele 5.

Subs Not Used: Lastuvka, Lopez, Kovac, Tristan.

REFEREE: Steve Tanner (Somerset) 7: Handled a lively game with calm authority.

MATCH RATING: *** Not a classic, by any means, but still delivered enough incident to satisfy a far-from-full Reebok.