Davies happy to help team

Striker sees league survival as the priority

Last updated: 7th March 2008

Kevin Davies Bolton v Lisbon

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Bolton striker Kevin Davies insists that Premier League survival is the priority for the Trotters - and he is happy to sacrifice playing in the Uefa Cup if it helps the cause.

The Trotters visit Portuguese giants Sporting Lisbon on Thursday in the second leg of their last 16 Uefa Cup clash.

The tie is on a knife-edge after the 1-1 first leg draw at the Reebok Stadium on Thursday, when Bolton boss Gary Megson fielded a full-strength side.

But Megson could leave a number of players behind for the return match as the Trotters face a massive league game against relegation rivals Wigan just three days later.

If he was dropped for the European match, Davies said he would understand the manager's decision.

"Of course I would," he said.

"The Premier League is definitely the priority. We're not in a great position, and the Wigan game is such a huge one for us.

Local derby

"It's a local derby and we need to pick up some points.

"We have the return leg to focus on first, but we will leave it to the manager to see what squad he takes. It's something he is going to have to consider.

"Obviously, we still want to progress, and we've proven ourselves already in the competition this season with the squads we've taken to other difficult places.

"The manager has rested players ahead of big games, and those that have come in and played have still managed to get a result.

"We all still want to be involved, but the bigger picture is the Wigan game."

Whatever the squad, Davies believes Bolton have enough depth to get a result in Lisbon.

Positive result

"As I've said, he has selected squads before that have done a job in Europe, and if we can get a positive result in Lisbon then that will help our confidence," he said.

"We're still in the competition, and we feel we can go there, grab a goal and see ourselves through."

They face a tough task in Lisbon after Sporting drew level in the second period at the Reebok through Simon Vukcevic, following Gavin McCann's first-half goal.

Davies added: "We wanted to push on and get another goal because I thought we were on top in the first half.

"They hadn't threatened, but then we seemed to take our foot off the gas in the second half and we caused our own problems.

"We're struggling to put two halves of football together at the moment. It's either a first or second-half performance.

"We've now made it hard for ourselves in Lisbon. We would have been happy with 1-0, but we're still in the tie and it's all to play for."