IT shattered his dreams at the time but Kevin Davies has never looked back since he was told he wasn't good enough to play for his beloved Sheffield United.

He was a regular on the Bramall Lane kop and, when he was given a place at the club's school of excellence, he was on the verge of fulfilling his childhood ambition to play for the Blades.

But Dave Bassett and his staff weren't impressed, so he settled instead for a trial at Chesterfield . . . and the rest, as they say, is history.

"I've not been much of a fan since they released me," Davies said with a wry smile. "I wasn't right for them at the time but it was a good thing for me because I went on and did good things for Chesterfield.

"A bad point in my life turned out to be one of the better decisions that was made for me."

After making his name with the Spireites, Davies hit the heights with Southampton and Blackburn and in four seasons at the Reebok he has developed into one of the most respected and feared strikers in the Premiership - virtually indispensible to Sam Allardyce's Wanderers.

So, while he still has a soft spot for the Blades, he won't bat an eyelid if he plunges them deeper into relegation trouble at the Reebok this afternoon.

"Of course I'd like them to stay up," he said, voicing his deep-seated loyalty to his hometown club. "I think they've done really well and, although they have been sucked back into it recently, I think they've got enough to stay up now.

"But it's been a difficult year for us so far in 2007 - for me and for the team - and it's imortant for us to get a win.

"I think we've been fortunate that a few results have gone our way and helped us stay in fifth place for so long but we've got a good run-in to get that UEFA Cup spot and this is an important game for us.

"It's the first of four home games, that are all winnable."

Being sidelined for much of the spell that has seen Wanderers slip out of Champions League contention to the point where they are now struggling to stay in the hunt for a UEFA Cup place, Davies has been perfectly-placed to analyse how things have gone so badly wrong.

But he admits the cause of the slump is still something of a mystery.

"The whole staff are sitting down to find out what is best: is it more rest or is it harder training we need.

"The team's not really changed much, but for some reason, we've stopped playing winning football.

"It's probably just a question of getting the right balance."