Fulham boss Roy Hodgson signed Bolton striker Kevin Davies when in charge of Blackburn 11 years ago, but the move failed to inspire and the striker ended up returning to Southampton before ending up with the Trotters. Since moving to the Reebok, Davies has emerged as their star striker and is regarded as one of the toughest forwards to mark in the league, such is his aerial prowess.

Hodgson, who was sacked during Davies' sole season at Ewood Park, welcomes Bolton to Craven Cottage this weekend and is not surprised he has been a success.

"It's no surprise to see his form over the last seasons," Hodgson said.

"It's quite strange because the summer we signed him we had a good year and got into Europe.

"People were speaking very well of Blackburn and thinking we could have another good season, and Kevin Davies was hailed as an excellent signing by virtually everybody.

"Of course the major problem was losing Chris Sutton and Kevin Gallagher in the first couple of weeks of the season. We had to throw Kevin in and when it didn't work out for him things got worse and worse.

"He certainly put that behind him and now he's a highly respected front player in the country and a player most teams would love to have.

"I'm pleased with that because I'm pleased to see I'm not totally incompetent when looking at forward players. I'm pleased he succeeded even if he didn't help me at the time."

Hodgson believes former Bolton boss Sam Allardyce, now in charge of Rovers, has had a beneficial effect on Davies' career.

"Unfortunately he didn't succeed for me," Hodgson said. "He had a bad time there.

"We didn't get any real benefit from him and he didn't succeed at one or two other clubs afterwards but Sam gave him a lifeline when his career was definitely very much going in the wrong direction.

"I've talked to him about this when I met him at Bolton a couple of years ago and he grabbed that lifeline with both hands.

"For the last five or six years he's been a fantastic player and a fantastic servant to Bolton."