Kevin Davies has praised the job Phil Parkinson is doing at Bolton Wanderers, insisting he believes they will survive on their return to the Sky Bet Championship.  

Parkinson has been at the Macron Stadium for little over a year, but guided the Trotters out of League One last season, as they finished the campaign second to Sheffield United.

The former Bradford City boss is now leading Bolton back into the Championship, where everybody associated with the club will be hoping they can defy the odds and re-establish themselves in the second-tier.

40-year-old Davies, who retired in September 2015, made over 400 appearances for Bolton between 2003 and 2013, scoring 83 goals in a hugely successful ten year spell in Lancashire.

The former striker has now been delivering his thoughts on Bolton’s Championship return. Davies, speaking exclusively to 888sport, said: “There’s always the fans who will want a bit more after seeing Huddersfield do it (achieve promotion) and the likes of Norwich and Southampton achieve back-to-back promotions but considering what’s gone on at the club these past few years just a bit of stability is needed.

“Most people would take 21^st place if offered now because they still have an embargo on them and there is a salary cap too which will limit the quality they can bring in.”

The former England international continued: “They’ve sold 11,000 season tickets so there will be plenty of fans backing them this year and it follows a great year just gone. To bounce straight back from League One is not easy and I’m really impressed with Phil Parkinson and his staff.

“Bolton are hard to beat and they’ll come into this season feeling they can compete. I expect them to finish around 16th and they’ve made some excellent signings in Adam Le Fondre and Sammy Ameobi along with Adam Armstrong on loan.

“I think they can surprise a few of the bigger teams and have a good season. After that they do need investment to get to the next level.”

Bolton began their campaign with a spirited performance against Thomas Christiansen’s Leeds United, where the Yorkshire outfit eventually ran out 3-2 winners.

Gary Madine and Le Fondre found themselves on the scoresheet for Parkinson’s side, but two goals from Kalvin Phillips and a header from Chris Wood inside the first-half was enough for Leeds to secure all three-points.

Parkinson’s side now face two difficult away trips, travelling to Millwall and Birmingham City, where they will be going in search of their first points of the 2017/18 campaign.

Read the full 888sport interview with Kevin Davies, including his thoughts on what the future holds for Sam Allardyce.