Coyle picked up the 25-year-old midfielder on a free transfer in January but Holden saw his hopes of making an impact at the summer's World Cup effectively dashed when he suffered a broken leg in a friendly in March. Holden's impact on the Trotters was plain to see on Sunday when he came back from injury straight into the starting line-up and responded with his brilliant 88th-minute strike to claim the points. Coyle said: "I got Stuart for nothing in January but he had a leg break and missed two months of the season and the World Cup. "I believe had Stuart played in those two months he would probably have started in the World Cup for America and gone on from where he is now. "We've missed Stuart in the last two games because he just gets better. He showed a real quality and he has got a real tenacity to go with it." Meanwhile Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce has praised Bolton striker Kevin Davies for the way he has turned his career around after initially failing to fulfil his huge early promise. Allardyce was credited with helping to rescue Davies' career when he took him to Bolton in 2003 on a free transfer from Southampton - but had to watch yesterday as Davies' flicked header played in Holden to sink his side. Allardyce said: "Kevin knows the job inside-out now. He's been playing professional football since he was 17 at Chesterfield and he's had his ups and downs. "He went all the way up in his mid-twenties and was valued around £25million then he came all the way back down to being slightly overweight but he took the bull by the horns really. "When he was here [at Bolton] with me I only gave him the tools. Kevin was the man who really wanted to change his own life and he's reaped the benefits. He's got the experience which is probably why Owen has made him his captain."
