Kelvin Davis is on course to join an exclusive Saints club this season as he nears his 300th appearance for the team.

The 38-year-old keeper is expected to finish the campaign in goal, with Fraser Forster likely to be sidelined for between nine and 12 months with a knee injury.

Davis has played 294 times for Saints, since joining from Sunderland in 2006, and is on track to reach the 300-mark in the game away to Leicester, on May 9.

In the club’s history, just 25 men have reached that milestone, with only one of those – Thomas Allen – a goalkeeper.

In an interview with the Daily Echo earlier this season, Davis said: “I don’t really know why that’s become such an important goal for me.

“I suppose it’s because it was the next goal and, obviously, getting back in the team and putting on the shirt and playing for the club is something I really look forward to doing, and I prepare to do that every day.”

Davis has more appearances for Saints than any other keeper in the post-war era, having passed the previous best set by Eric Martin’s 290.

However, it is Allen, who played for the club from 1920-28, who still holds the all-time record for a Saints keeper, with 327.

Davis had been stuck on 293 appearances for more than a year, after enduring a 13-month absence from the team following a 1-0 FA Cup defeat at Sunderland in February 2014.

However, he was back in action off the bench in Saints’ last match, replacing Forster in the early stages of the 2-0 win over Burnley, at St Mary’s.

Despite having not played for so long, Davis showed no signs of his ability or reactions having dulled, as he made a string of fine saves and turned in a man-of-the-match performance.

If he does reach the 300 mark, he will become the 18th post-war player to do so for Saints.

Player Appearances (sub)

 

Terry Paine

     812 (4) 

Mick Channon

     602 (5) Nick Holmes     535 (8)

Matt Le Tissier

     462 (78) Tommy Traynor     487 Jason Dodd     453 (30) Bert Shelley     465 Eric Day     422 Sammy Meston     413

Claus Lundekvam

     403 (10) John Sydenham     401 (1) Art Dominy     392 Stan Woodhouse     383 Bill Rawlings     377 Bert Lee     369 Hugh Fisher     356 (10) Glenn Cockerill     340 (18) Steve Williams     346 (3) Arthur Bradford     334 Tommy Mulgrew     330  Thomas Allen     327 Cliff Huxford     317 (3)

Danny Wallace

     299 (18)  Derek Reeves     311 Matt Oakley     282(28) Kelvin Davis     292(2)