Town keeper Kelvin Davis may have had an excuse for his glaring error at the start of the West Ham game on New Year's Day - a car had crashed into his Bury St Edmunds home at 5am earlier that day.

Davis's gaffe led to former Town loanee Marlon Harewood putting the Hammers in front in the first minute, a blow from which the Blues failed to recover.

It was a bad mistake, however, the former Wimbledon and Luton man did not have the best preparation for the match: "I was happily tucked up in bed but about 5am I heard a screech of tyres anda big whack. The house shook and I was up out of bed and sprinting down stairs.

"He'd gone into the front of the house, hitting the porch and wrecking a few flower pots, but luckily no one was hurt.

"By the time the police came round it was 5.30am, so it was not the best night's sleep before a game."

The driver of the car was charged with drink-driving and has been bailed to appear in court on January 6th.

Davis didn't inform manager Joe Royle about the incident prior to the game, the keeper not wanting to appear to be "making excuses" ahead of the match.

Photo: Action Images

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