OWEN Coyle has thrown down the gauntlet to Zat Knight to rediscover his top form and prove why he was worth a new two-year contract.

The big defender turned down overtures from Premier League West Ham and Championship rivals Cardiff City to commit his future to the Reebok this week.

Coyle believes Knight’s experience will be beneficial in his young squad but admits the former Aston Villa man needs to rediscover his “fearsome” best, which many fans feel was lacking at times last season.

“I have got no doubt about Zat’s quality,” he told The Bolton News. “I always think back to that game at Blackburn, with everything that was riding on it, and he was the outstanding player on the park by far.

“I have told him now that is the standard and the quality that we need from him on a regular basis.

“When he’s playing like that he has got a tremendous amount to give this football club.”

With Tim Ream already on board and Matt Mills signing from Leicester City, Knight finds himself in a three-way fight for a centre-half spot until David Wheater returns from a cruciate ligament injury in the New Year.

Contract talks began at the start of the year with the defender still a first team regular – but after dropping out of the first team plan in the last few months of the Premier League campaign, Coyle hopes a new deal will reignite the fire in the 32-year-old’s belly.

“We need a squad where players don't just walk into the team,” he said. “They have to be challenged in every area.

“It's fair to say there was an element of frustration for Zat last season when Tim came in on the left side, David Wheater was playing well on the right, but I thought he came in and did really well for the last couple of games when David got injured.

“He knows it's a fair fight for a shirt. He has shown loyalty by staying with the club but more than that he has shown a desire to get this club back into the Premier League.”

Knight turned down more lucrative offers from elsewhere to pitch in with Wanderers' promotion push and admits he does have a point to prove to some of his doubters.

“I had an up and down season, in and out of the team, and I wanted to repay the manager and repay the fans,” he said. “Hopefully I can give my input to the younger boys in the team.

“Whether I'm playing or not playing, we're in it together. It's pretty much two games a week so we're going to need the squad.”

Knight was a teenager cutting his teeth with Fulham when the Cottagers blitzed the old First Division with 101 points, which also proved the year Sam Allardyce led the Whites back into the big time via a play-off victory over Preston North End.

And he fancies his chances of doing it again with Wanderers.

“Some of the grounds we will be going to won't be like Old Trafford or Anfield, but we have to grin and bear it,” he said.

“We have to stick together and fight, and if we can do that for 46 matches then we will be better off and back in the Premier League next season.”