Leam Richardson has been likened to Gary Neville by Brian Kidd and with Kieran O'Conner also coming through the ranks, GORDON SHARROCK is charged with finding out more.

HE might be the least known of Wanderers' summer recruits but, if he has the ability to match his self-assurance, he is going to make a big, big impact. Remember the name, Leam Richardson.

At 20, the Leeds born defender, a contemporary of Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard in the England Schoolboys set up, is certainly not short on confidence.

Sam Allardyce places him in the 'potential' category along with Dean Holden, Kevin Nolan and another new arrival, Paul Wheatcroft. One for the future, says the manager.

But the lad himself reckons he's one for the present and sees no reason why he should not be in the team from the start.

"I think I've got as much chance as anybody," Richardson says with the bluntness of a true Yorkshireman who believes he is going places and doesn't expect to be left hanging around. "Given a chance I'll make my mark and I'll do a job."

If there is a cockiness about the youngster, it's been massaged by one who should know a good prospect when he sees one - none other than Brian Kidd, the man who helped nurture Fergie's Fledglings at Old Trafford.

Kidd seemingly had high hopes for Richardson before he was sacked at Blackburn early last season and it was a heart to heart with his then manager that led the former trainee, who turned professional after only eight months, to believe he had a future at Ewood.

"I rated Brian Kidd," Richardson says, "he gave me my debut and I was starting to get in the team again when he got sacked.

"A couple of days before he left he sat me down in his office an was saying some promising things about me.

"He was comparing me with Gary Neville when he was my age and that was flattering coming from someone of Brian Kidd's standing and reputation."

But, in common with more experienced and much more high profile stars (Per Frandsen for one) a change of manager at Ewood didn't suit the youngster, who suddenly found himself back in a crowded pack of players struggling for recognition. He would eventually be offered a new contract but he had decided, long before the arrival of Graeme Souness, that it was time to move on.

"I was offered a good contract at Blackburn but I should have been playing more than I was," he explained.

"I'd more or less decided before the contract was offered that I wanted a new start with a new club. Somewhere where I could get some games.

"Chances were limited at Blackburn. They took 20 players on their pre-season tour and left 22 behind! That tells you everything.

"I think I would eventually have had another crack at it but you get impatient. I believe in myself so much that I wasn't going to sign any length of contract at Blackburn, whatever they'd have offered me. I wanted a new start.

"When I got the offer to come to Bolton, I was delighted. It's a great set up and, with the squad of players we have, it's looking good. The club has a better chance than most of getting into the Premiership - and that's where I want to play."

All Allardyce is prepared to say for now is: "Leam has been brought in with an eye on the future. He has made excellent progress at Blackburn and, if he continues his pace of development, then he has a tremendous future in football and the Wanderers will have a very talented player."