KEVIN Davies can think of no better time and no better place to get his scoring show back on the road.

He has no particularly happy memories of the year he spent at Ewood Park but leading Wanderers to victory over Blackburn tomorrow would be oh, so, satisfying.

"I haven't had time to think about it too much, with only having a couple of days to prepare after the United game," he said , "but I am due a goal and it would be nice to go there and score."

Davies became one of the most expensive players in English football when he joined Rovers from Southampton in a £7.25 million deal in the summer of 1998. But a year later he was on his way back to the Saints after managing just a single goal in 23 Premiership games.

When he was discarded by Gordon Strachan last summer, there were some who suggested his career was well and truly on the slide but his tireless, wholhearted performances spearheading the Wanderers' attack have silenced his critics.

Wanderers' faith was justified when the striker booked his place in the starting line-up at Manchester United on day one, and he has led the line ever since, fending off every challenge that has come his way.

"I think it's the players off the park who have helped Kevin keep his performance levels high," Brown said in praise of Davies.

"A lot of people have been talking highly of Kevin's performances this season. His attitude has been first class. There's a lot of innnovation at this club and he's been prepared to take everything on board. Frank Stapleton (recently appointed striker coach) has added another voice and more expertise for us in that department and Kevin's responded to that too.

"Unfortunately, the goals haven't flowed as much as Kevin would have liked but I thought his performance against Manchester United was magnificent..

"I know Blackburn have been unsettled at the back and Kevin will be looking forward to going back to Ewood Park to show them what they are missing."

Davies is confident that, if Wanderers can carry on where they left off against United, they stand a good chance of claiming their first Premiership win since coming from behind to knock Chelsea off the top of the table on December13.

"If we play from the start the way we did in the second half the other night, we should get something out of the game.

"The problem against United was that we let ourselves down a little bit in the first half. In fact we've let ourselves down and let points slip this season. If we'd got wins against Leicester and Arsenal, we'd have been up to about sixth so that's why the gaffer wants us to get back to winning games.

"It's all very tight in the league; that's why it's so important to keep picking up points."

Wanderers need look no further than the statistic of six home draws to see why they are suddenly looking over their shoulders at the drop zone. Time and again they have either failed to press home their advantage or squandered winning positions -- most notably when they produced a scintillating first half perfrormance to lead Blackburn 2-0 at half time, only to end up drawing 2-2.

Davies, who opened his Bolton scoring account in that game but has not scored since taking his total to five in the 2-1 defeat at Fulham on December 6, recalls: "That was one of the games we felt we should have won but a lot as happened since then.

"Hopefully we can make up for that tomorrow.