ANYONE who thinks Jussi Jaaskelainen and Kevin Davies are past their sell by date are completely off their rocker.

They are bearing the brunt of criticism from the fans at the minute, some of it fair, some of it unfair.

But there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that they will get back to their very best form and play a major role for Wanderers this season.

At times like this, your big players feel it more. They are the ones carrying the responsibility and the weight on their shoulders.

Think about what these two have done for the club, how many years they have carried us for? That doesn’t disappear in a few bad games, or a couple of mistakes.

Jussi should have done better with the first goal against Arsenal on Saturday, and he’ll know it. After that, he made some unbelievable saves and the result would have been a lot, lot worse without him.

I saw Luis Suarez scored a similar goal for Liverpool against Wolves, and I think it’s just something that people tend to pick up on. If he bangs it in the far post, then people just say it’s a great goal.

Jussi provided a few answers with some of the saves he made, and there’s no question in my mind that he should still be the number one.

Big Kev is a different case. I thought last week that he maybe needed a couple of games out of the spotlight, so it wasn’t a big surprise to see him start on the bench at the Emirates.

To say that’s the end for him, though, I don’t know what people are thinking sometimes.

We’ve all had those spells when things just don’t fall for you. It’s great when everyone is patting you on the back and telling you how good you are, but when things go quiet and the team don’t score enough goals, it’s natural to look towards the strikers.

If Owen sticks with David Ngog against Chelsea, as I think he will, it will give Kevin something to think about. But he’s got to use it the right way and make sure he comes back refreshed.

READING the reaction from Wanderers fans on Twitter and various websites this week to the Arsenal result, I think it’s time we all took a step back.

Anyone calling for Owen Coyle to go needs to take a second, and remember what things were like 18 months ago - the vibe around the place, the negative football.

It hasn’t been easy this last few weeks and you can see how much it means to the fans. But it’s too easy to act on a whim on the internet, and we all need to draw breath.

In my opinion, we’ll be fine by the end of next month, Nobody likes to admit it, but you could see a run like this coming from a mile off. It’s been a tough run and we should have made things easier by beating Norwich.

Owen wouldn’t have said it publicly back at the start of the season, that’s just not his style, but he knew he was in for a test.

It’s at times like these that the players really need the fans. They were great against United - singing more out of defiance than anything else - and they know the effect they have on performances.

It would be easy to look past the Chelsea game and say our season starts against Wigan after the international break. Owen won’t be having a bar of that, though, he’ll want a win on Sunday, and that would take a bit of pressure off.

EXCLUDING Stuart Holden against Chelsea would send out the wrong message for me on Sunday.

Unless there’s a fitness problem we don’t know about, he will have had 10 days to recover from the Villa game.

For me, getting a result against Chelsea is more important than taking the ultra-cautious approach. Owen needs his best team out there on the pitch, and Stu is very much a part of that.

If Stu has been training all week with the lads and he gets held back, what vibes do they pick up from that? Are we writing the Chelsea game off? It’s not how Owen works.

Stu’s enthusiasm is infectious and it will give the dressing room a boost. Not only that, but the boys see how hard he has worked to get back and it inspires them to raise their game.

IT’S been interesting to see Owen try something new with a five-man midfield this last couple of games, and I think he’ll stick with it against Chelsea.

Everything seemed to be working well until David Ngog came off against Arsenal, and while Big Kev is a good target man, it meant the defence could push up a little higher.

Of course, the sending off ruined things, and I do feel sorry for David Wheater, who I think had looked good in the game.

For the system to work, though, the onus is on the mdfielders to break forward and support the striker - like Stuart Holden did last season.

Darren Pratley has it in him to do that, and he was unlucky early on with the chance he had.

I think we need to stick at it and make it work. We have got the wingers, so crosses are still coming into the box but it gives us that bit of extra solidity that maybe we lack with a 4-4-2.

I HOPE Daniel Sturridge acknowledges the debt he owes to Bolton Wanderers on Sunday.

I don’t expect any favours, but it would be good to see him say thanks to the fans, and to Owen Coyle for the job he did with him last season.

It’s clear Andre Villas-Boas rates him as second choice to Fernando Torres, who’s probably only first choice because of how much he cost and who bought him.

But he’s ahead of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka - and a lot of that is down to the confidence he got from getting a run of games at the Reebok.