TOM Davies spent three years looking at text books amid fears his football career was over and turned his attention to university instead.

But the 24-year-old Stanley defender now stays up late staring at the League Two table as his side close in on what he hopes is a famous promotion.

Davies is in line to start at Wycombe this afternoon, where the second-placed Reds know a win and either Oxford losing or Bristol Rovers not winning will see them go up to League One.

The equation may seem complicated to some but not for Davies, who stepped away from football at 16 following his release from Blackburn Rovers and instead got three A-levels and a degree in sports management at Northumbria University. 

“You get to somewhere like Blackburn Rovers and think you’ll play in the Premier League,” said the Warrington-born centre back.

“It wasn’t a nice time, but I went off to university thinking I would never get back into the professional game.

“I thought at that point it was me done in the game, and that’s why I owe a lot to the gaffer (John Coleman) because he was brilliant with me and gave me a chance.”

Davies’ path back into the game came via FC United and then a frustrating spell at Fleetwood, before he caught the eye of Coleman and signed for Stanley last summer.

He’s been a big part of the success at the Wham Stadium this season, making 33 appearances and cementing his place at the heart of the defence.

Davies added: “The gaffer told me the first day I was here that I’d get my chance if I came in and proved myself.

“That’s what I needed. He’s the only manager in the league who gave me that chance, so I owe the him and Jimmy (Bell) a lot.

“You can see with some of the lads he’s brought back, he’s very loyal to players and he gets the best out of them.”

Davies feels this afternoon’s fixture might suit Stanley, as they travel with up to 500 fans to Adams Park to face a side who moved out of the play-off picture last weekend and who will be desperate to end their own season on a high.

“It’s massive and we’re obviously all excited,” he said.

“I’m not going to lie, I stay up at night and stare at the league table and hope we get an extra three points just by looking at it.

“There’s no doubt that I’ve got an eye on Oxford’s and Bristol Rovers’ fixtures, but we know that if we get two wins then we’re up.

“We’re a team that performs better away from home. Maybe that’s because we like to play on the counter attack and teams come at us away from home.

“The fans haver been brilliant all season. It’s so hard when you go to places like Portsmouth and you’ve got 100 fans travelling, but you always hear them and we always show how much we appreciate them after the games.

“It will be nice to have a few coaches full on Saturday.

“We’ll be going there to win, 100 per cent, and hopefully at 5pm we’ll not only be celebrating a win but a promotion to League One.

“We’re on a great run, but we have had some frustrating results in that 10 games. Hopefully that stretches to 12 games and the gaffer will be drumming it into us that it’s not over yet.”