Cahill says Whites can survive (From The Bolton News)

Cahill says Whites can survive

9:05am Monday 3rd March 2008

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GARY Cahill is refusing to waver in his belief that Wanderers have what it takes to survive in the Premiership.

The talented young centre-back came to the Reebok from Aston Villa in January because he believed it was the best place to further his career. And, although he finds himself in the thick of a tense relegation battle, he remains convinced he made the right decision.

"I said when I first came here that we are more than capable of staying up in this league, and I still believe that," he said.

"It's crunch time down there and a lot of teams are involved. Five or six teams have been sucked into it now, even the likes of Newcastle, and I think it will go to the wire. But I also think we've got enough to stay clear of it."

Yesterday's 3-1 home defeat to Liverpool left Wanderers just above third bottom Reading on goal difference.

In the end it was comfortable victory for the Reds with Ryan Babel and Fabio Aurelio scoring in the 59th and 75th minutes before Tamir Cohen headed a 78th minute consolation for Wanderers.

But Gary Megson was left to rue missed chances at key moments - Cahill being one of the main culprits missing a golden opportunity to level the scores in the 35th minute after Jussi Jaaskelainen's bizarre own goal had gifted Livgerpool a 10th minute lead. El-Hadji Diouf hit the bar with a free kick in the fourth minute and Pepe Reina made a superb save from Kevin Davies.

"I should have scored with the header, which was disappointing," Cahill said.

"The chances aren't going in for us at the moment and we have to pay the price for that.

"I'm not moaning about the luck, but we could have been 1-0 up when we hit the crossbar.

"Nothing's going right for us at the moment. If we'd gone 1-0 up you don't know what would have happened. Their goalkeeper's beaten all ends up and the ball just pitched off the grass and hit the bar. It was just unfortunate.

"It's difficult at the moment but it's important we don't let our heads go down.

"We've got 10 games left. We know we'll lose some of those 10 but, hopefully, we'll win some too.

"It's important for us to regroup and get that win that we need."

Meanwhile, Tamir Cohen preferred to leave the celebrations to his family after scoring his first Premiership goal.

The Israeli midfielder headed a 78th minute consolation for Wanderers, to the delight of his father Avi, the former Anfield favourite, who was watching from the stands.

But Tamir, a half-time substitute for Kevin Nolan, admitted: "It would have been better if I hadn't scored and we had won the game."

Avi, who played 23 games for Liverpool between 1979-81, was a proud father and a happy ex-Red. Preparing to celebrate his son's 24th birthday tomorrow, he said: "This is a big present for me and his mother.

"My team is always Liverpool and if my team wins and my son scores, I am very pleased."

Cohen Jnr added: "The situation is not so good in the table but we don't feel big pressure yet."

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