DEAN Holdsworth delved deep into his memory bank today as he shared in the celebration of Kevin Nolan's first goal in senior football.
"I know how I felt when I scored by first goal for Watford," said the seasoned striker, "and I know what Kevin will be feeling now."
Holdsworth's awareness and ability laid on the chance for the 18-year-old Liverpool midfielder to put the seal on Wanderers' latest Reebok romp with the fourth goal in the 4-1 victory over Crewe. And the 32-year-old Londoner took as much pleasure in the assist as he would if he'd scored himself.
"I saw him in the corner of my eye," Holdsworth said, reflecting on the perfectly-timed, inch-perfect first touch that put Nolan in for his clear run on goal. "It's nice when they come off and it's nice to get the recognition - it's something I feel I've not had enough recognition for in the past.
"I'm over the moon for Kevin. He'll always remember this first goal and he can tell his family that I gave it him.
"I gave him a bit of stick, telling him it was an own goal but full credit to him. He's had a bit of a 'Jigsaw' tag - you know, going to pieces in the box - but he's shown a maturity coming through into the team this season and he's deserved that one.
"Let's hope it's the first of many."
Holdsworth, who returned as a second half substitute after back-to-back injuries restricted him to just one brief outing in the previous 10 games, believes the strength of Wanderers' promotion prospects can be measured by the talent they had in reserve on Saturday when he started on the bench alongside Michael Ricketts, Franck Passi, Carsten Fredgaard and Steve Banks.
"Having the potential we had on the bench must have frightened Crewe," he suggested. "It's about squads and we have players we can send on in the last 20 minutes who can make a difference in games.
"We are playing with a strong belief now and we're building a bit of a fortress here. It's a good atmosphere.
"We believe we can batter teams here.
"On Saturday we played with a good tempo, the way we left off against Watford, and showed again why we are such a great force at home. Credit to Crewe because they kept to their beliefs and scored a good goal. But that just gave us a kick up the backside which we needed to stop us getting complacent. They had a few half chances but we hit the woodwork three times and the quality of our football was excellent."
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