3:40pm Friday 19th March 2010
By Marc Iles
PAUL Robinson aims to put Leighton Baines’s World Cup credentials to the test at Goodison Park.
Wanderers’ no-nonsense defender believes the race to be England’s number one left back in South Africa has boiled down to a straight fight between his opposite number at Everton, and Aston Villa’s Stephen Warnock.
Ashley Cole’s broken ankle and Wayne Bridge’s decision to quit international football has thrown the door wide open to other candidates looking to gatecrash this summer’s competition.
And Robinson has backed Baines to book his seat on the plane, albeit with a tinge of jealousy.
“I think they should be taking me instead,” he joked. “I am a little bit more experienced.
“I have seen Leighton progress as a player. He is a young lad who still has a lot to learn but when you watch him week in, week out, he gets stronger and stronger. He is a quality player and it will be good to lock horns with him and see how good he really is.
“You watch left backs and I’ve watched him when he was at Wigan and when he played for the Under-21s.
“I think he is a fantastic player but he has been competing against the likes of Ashley Cole and Wayne Bridge until now. They are on a different level, but with Wayne Bridge’s decision, it has opened the door for the likes of Leighton and Stephen Warnock.
“They both want to prove a point with their clubs week in, week out and hopefully get on the plane to South Africa.”
Robinson has rubbished the suggestion that Wanderers will take their foot off the pedal now they have established an eight-point safety cushion above the bottom three.
But he accepts the Whites have their work cut out to keep their recent run going at a ground where they haven’t scored in their last three visits.
“We are still working hard,” he said. “We know it’s a tough place to go and we know the position they are in and the position they are fighting for.
“We have got to go there and do a great job like we have been doing in recent weeks, and hopefully give them a hard game.”
Wanderers’ last win on the blue half of Merseyside came in 2005, when a Stelios double helped Sam Allardyce’s side to a 4-0 victory that lifted them to fifth place in the Premier League.
Owen Coyle’s brief this time around is to place yet more distance between his side and the relegation zone, with Robinson forecasting earlier this week that two more victories should be enough to ensure a place in the Premier League next season.
“We are away from home so there is more pressure on the home team to get a result,” he said. “Everton will probably take a 2-2 draw the way they have been playing this year.
“It’s a tougher task to go there and keep the fans and their top performers quiet as well.
“We will go there with a positive attitude and the confidence we played with against Wigan last weekend and hopefully give them a run for the money.”
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/trade_directory/