COLIN Todd is urging Bobby Gould to give Nathan Blake a World Cup call.

Wanderers' seven-goal top scorer is on standby for Wales' tough qualifier against Holland in Cardiff on October 5 . . . ahead of the legendary Ian Rush.

But his Burnden boss believes he should have been in the original squad Gould named last week.

Glowing in his praise for the Cardiff-born striker whose current form is a revelation after the disappointments of last season, Todd said: "Anyone from the Welsh set-up watching Nathan at Bradford would have him in the squad straight away, never mind on standby.

"The way he is performing now, he deserves to be in the national side."

Blake scored two and made two as Wanderers maintained the leadership of the First Division with a convincing 4-2 win at Valley Parade.

It was a performance which again had the Bolton fans singing the praises of the striker they barracked last season when he managed just one goal in 16 starts following his £1.5 million transfer from Sheffield United.

Todd showed his faith in Blake, John McGinlay and Mixu Paatelainen when he refused to draft in any new strikers in the summer. He says all three - up to now Paatelainen has been sidelined by a foot injury - have proved themselves at Division One level.

But few imagined Blake, in particular, could produce such a transformation.

Todd described his performance at Bradford as: "His best all-round display of the season."

Blake, who won the last of his five Welsh caps in Italy in January, politely disagreed, claiming: "I thought my best performance was against Manchester City when I didn't score."

What isn't in dispute is that Blake is in the sort of form no manager can ignore - either for club or country.

Meanwhile, Todd will again have to wait for a fitness check on Jimmy Phillips before selecting his line-up for tomorrow night's Coca-Cola Cup tie at home to Bristol City.

Phillips, who played at Bradford despite carrying a painful shin injury, picked up another unrelated knock at Valley Parade.

Wanderers are favourites to reach the third round after drawing the away leg 0-0 but City warmed up with a 4-1 home win against Walsall on Saturday to suggest they are in no mood to lie down.

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