Bolton boss Owen Coyle believes England would have won on Tuesday night if Kevin Davies had been introduced to the action earlier. Davies, 33, became the oldest England debutant since Leslie Compton in 1950 when he came on against Montenegro with 20 minutes remaining. The Wanderers skipper was unable to prevent his country being held to a disappointing goalless draw in the European Championship qualifier, but Coyle has praised Davies' impact and feels the scoreline would have been different if the substitution had not been made so late. "As the manager of his football club, it filled me with immense pride," Coyle said. "For a player who has shown his quality year after year, I think it would have been a travesty if he had finished his career and hadn't won that elusive cap for England. "What he has to do now is kick on as he has been doing and keep showing that form to keep himself in the squad. If he keeps playing at the level he is, then I'm sure he will. You saw the response he got when he came on from the England fans, a fantastic round of applause, and that in itself must have spurred him on. "I thought he did ever so well in the game and I truly believe, having sat and watched the game, if he had been on earlier, then England would have gone on to win the game. There is no doubt that he unsettled (them), he knocked a couple of great headers down inside the box which resulted in half-chances and I think he should be very pleased with how well he did."
Source: PA
Source: PA