THE Holdsworth family had cause for a double celebration on Saturday when father, Dean, followed in the footsteps of his son, Bradley. The Wanderers record signing came off the subs bench to score a gem of a third goal in the 3-1 Reebok victory over Portsmouth.

Then he revealed that earlier in the day, his seven-year-old had scored the winning goal for his local team, Birkdale United!

"That's the most important thing of all," Dean said, sharing the joy of his son's first goal for his club.

"I'm over the moon for him and I'm sure he'll be pleased that I've scored as well. He'll be telling me all about how he scored his goal. It's been a good day for us."

One of the best for Holdsworth Snr, who hopes his fourth league goal of the season - he's made only seven starts - has gone a long way to persuading Colin Todd to restore him to the 1st Xl. "I'm glad I got on and glad I scored," he said, "I want to do well and I don't want to be sitting there on the bench. But I respect the manager's decision. He's been as good as gold with me and I've been as good as I can be with him.

"I've been as professional and as disciplined as I can. But it's not easy waking up on Saturday morning knowing you're not playing. It's not something I enjoy but I've done it." Then, resorting to the characteristic Holdsworth humour to press home his point, he added, pointedly: "I've given the manager a bit of a headache now . . . and I'll give him another if he doesn't pick me!"

Todd confirmed his continued backing for his £3.5 million record buy, whose appearances have been restricted, largely by injury, since his arrival from Wimbledon.

"Dean's a goalscorer," the manager acknowledged. "But his games have been limited due to the fact that he's been injured and the other two (Arnar Gunnlaugsson and Bob Taylor) have been doing well.

"People have to be patient and he has been patient because he knows I am right behind him. That was a tremendous goal he scored on Saturday because it's not been easy for him.

"Like all players, he needs that time in the team."

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