Kevin Davies clears air with Tom Cleverley
Last updated on .From the section Football
Bolton skipper Kevin Davies says Tom Cleverley bears him no grudge after a tackle that seemed to have badly injured the Manchester United player.
Cleverley left the field with a suspected broken foot after being tackled by Davies during the 5-0 win for United on Saturday.
And although the injury has since been diagnosed as ligament damage, Davies said he contacted him out of courtesy.
"It was a respectful thing to do for a fellow professional," Davies said.
"Someone contacted me and told me he had a suspected fracture," Davies told BBC Sport. "So just out of courtesy, I sent him a long text saying I've not seen [a replay of] the tackle and hoping it was nothing too serious.
"When I heard it was a suspected break I was genuinely disappointed.
"He rang me back within minutes and said 'don't worry about it, I've seen it back, it was just an unfortunate coming together' and I had a good chat with him. I wished him luck and for me it's finished."
Davies' wife had earlier revealed on Twitter that the pair had spoken, and the 34-year-old Bolton forward later said the call also cleared up comments posted on a fake Tom Cleverley Facebook site, which claimed the 22-year-old was angry after the match.
"I was told he put something on his account saying I didn't offer an apology after the game but I didn't know [about the injury]," Davies added.
"It was a fake account anyway, so that's why he rang me back to say that. He wasn't saying anything bad about me, which was good of him."
The injury will keep Cleverley out for four weeks and means he will miss England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro in October in addition to club matches.
"It was unfortunate," United boss Sir Alex Ferguson told BBC Sport of the news. "We expected it. It was a bad tackle."
Davies was not cautioned for the incident but shortly afterwards picked up his 100th Premier League booking for a challenge on Patrice Evra.
"The reputation I'm supposed to have is something I've become used to," Davies said. "I play the game and I try to do the best for my club but I never intentionally go out and hurt anybody.
"It's something I would never do. Sure, I like the physical side of the game but it's part of the game."
Cleverley has made a name for himself since returning to United this summer following loan spells at Leicester, Watford and Wigan.
He has won 16 caps for England's Under-21 team and was called up by Fabio Capello for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Wales last month, but is yet to make his senior England debut.
