Ben Davies / Ben Davies / 24 December 2009 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">Free Bet View Market

Ben Davies on the frustration of having fixtures postponed at the last minute, giving Christmas turkey a miss and whether the campaign to get Bobby Zamora to play for England will be a fruitful one.

"It is sacrifices like this that have to be made by footballers, but I am sure they will all say it is worth it if they win the next day."

I would firstly like to take this opportunity to say a very Merry Christmas to you all and wish you a Happy New Year.

Notts have not been in action since I last spoke to you due to the weather. We were not the only football club affected; in fact the big freeze has destroyed virtually all sporting events over the last few days. We were due to play away to Bournemouth in a league match, the game was postponed and unfortunately the postponement was not as straightforward as it may seem.

We set off on Sunday as normal; this was because the game was due to be on Sky Sports on the Monday night. The journey down was horrific and took about five hours as we battled through high winds and snow storms. We eventually arrived down there late Sunday night and we all went straight to bed in preparation for the game. The next morning we woke up to freezing conditions and a blanket of ice on the ground. I could have told anyone there and then that the game would have not gone ahead, but we could not turn back until it was officially postponed.

Therefore, our Monday consisted of a day of sitting around the hotel and waiting and preparing for the game. When our coaching staff went to lay the kit out for the game they witnessed the first pitch inspection at 2.30 in the afternoon. The pitch inspector determined that the pitch was not playable then but the weather might warm up and the pitch might be ok by kick-off. I have never heard of the weather warming up later on at night in the middle of a December freeze, where the temperatures were predicted to go well below minus. But what do I know!?

The game eventually was called off only two hours before kick-off. This was very disappointing as at that point our fans would have been already three quarters of their way to the stadium and driving in hazardous conditions to a game that should have been called off 24 hours earlier. For us players it was then in to the hotel for a gym session before leaving on the coach back to Nottingham for another five hour journey. I have to admit, they were not the most enjoyable couple of days of my life.

Changing topics to that of our new gaffer, I read this week that there are now over forty applicants for the job. Once again there are some high profile names on the list, as expected. The club have issued a statement saying that a Manager will not be announced until after the Festive period. The powers that be at the club have now, once again, got the job of selecting the right person for the hot seat.

Christmas time is a very busy time for footballers as there are a lot of fixtures and points to be played for. I have not got much planned for Christmas, bar our Christmas Day training session, followed by a relaxing day with the family. I will not be overdoing the Christmas turkey as we have a Boxing day game against Grimsby Town. You have to be very disciplined at Christmas as I am having all the family around to my new house, and whilst they will be tucking in to their chocolates and drinking their mulled wine, I will have to be sipping my water and eating my fruit. It is sacrifices like this that have to be made by footballers, but I am sure they will all say it is worth it if they win the next day. The last time I had a proper Christmas would have been about ten years ago before I became a footballer and I could eat excessively and stay up all night. That will not be the case this year as there is nothing worse than running around the pitch on Boxing Day thinking you shouldn't have had that extra helping the night before.

My Christmas wish would be the same as most, for my family and friends to be healthy and for a nice relaxing time with all my loved ones. Although the latter gets limited in my line of work, a place in the top three come the beginning of January would go some way to making up for that.

Talking of goodwill, it has been good to see that Bobby Zamora has been scoring for fun lately after all the stick he had been getting. This has led to a few people calling for him to be given a go in an England shirt. I have played against Zamora a few times in which he has normally scored and I rate him highly. I am not sure he can force his way in to Capello's thinking though. Although he has great quality and is in brilliant form, I think there are other people in front of him in the pecking order to fill the places that are still up for grabs.

Emile Heskey , Wayne Rooney and Jermain Defoe are certainties whilst Peter Crouch has a great international record and is now a regular in the Spurs team. Carlton Cole is liked by Capello and who can ever rule out the fox in the box, Michael Owen, who has been there and done it before? Or Darren Bent who has also been amongst the goals so far this season. It would be great to see Zamora push them all the way and continue his scoring streak but the competition is sky high. Talk of Zamora leads me to the Fulham v Tottenham Hotspur game. This promises to be a pretty good game with the prices on Betfair very tight across the three outcomes. I am going to go for a draw at [3.55] and under 2.5 goals at [2.0].

Hope you all have a great Christmas and I will speak to you next week for the last column of 2009!

Tags: Ben Davies Notts County. football bets, Bobby Zamora England player, football tips, Notts County players