CURTIS Davies would be well advised to make room on his mantelpiece ahead of awards week at the KC Stadium. Silverware, and lots of it, is coming his way.
The central defender will be a red-hot favourite to end his first season with Hull City by succeeding Ahmed Elmohamady as the club's Player of the Season on Wednesday evening. The players' vote, a more coveted prize within the dressing room, should be another accolade with his name on it.
By the time Davies has collected an inevitable haul of trophies from the Official Supporters Club function, immediately after next Sunday's visit of Everton, he will either need assistance or a wheelbarrow getting home.
It has been one of those seasons. For all the star performers found within the City camp – most notably Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore, David Meyler and Elmohamady – there appears to be only one winner of the individual prizes.
Starting all but one of City's 35 Premier League games this season, Davies has been the outstanding performer in Steve Bruce's side. The £2.25m fee that brought him from Birmingham last July can seldom have felt better spent.
There is time for things to get even better should Davies lead City up the Wembley steps as an FA Cup final winner two weeks today, but already there is a rightful sense of satisfaction at the events.
"The first thing I think of this season is that we're almost safe in the Premier League," said Davies, who returns to former club Aston Villa targeting a point that would guarantee survival.
"I could have had the same performances with us in 20th and I wouldn't have wanted that. The important thing was always to stay in the league.
"Individually, I've just been happy to be consistent. You can sometimes have those games when you reach a nine out of ten, but then you drop down to a six. I think I've managed to keep myself at a good level throughout the season.
"That's my biggest thing. Doing it in the Championship (with Birmingham) was one thing but it's a different gravy in the Premier League. You're up against international players every week. To do well in this league is a massive honour."
So what has changed? What has fallen into place with City?
"It's the experience I hold now," Davies answered. "The last time I was a regular in the Premier League was 2008-09. You're talking five years on and the experiences of being left out, not playing, injuries, they all make you a stronger character as a person.
"I don't think I ever needed to rebuild my reputation in the Championship but it did make me want it more."
A flawless season has been Davies' second coming in the Premier League. A player once called up for England at the age of 23 witnessed his career tumble into a four-year decline and today he returns to where the slide first began.
Despite taking his career to heights he has never since enjoyed, finishing the 2008-09 season sixth in the Premier League, a fall from grace under Martin O'Neill and Gerard Houllier brought his exit in January 2011.
The Blues' demise, one that could continue with relegation to League One this lunchtime, presented two seasons in the Championship and not until Steve Bruce tossed a lifeline last summer was Davies returned to a stage where he feels at home. A Villa reunion offers a sense of perspective.
"It was ups and downs but the majority of it was disappointment really," said Davies, who cost Villa £12m when moving from West Brom.
"It started really well, I managed to get in Fabio Capello's first squad after 12 games, but then I did my Achilles.
"I worked myself back from that to start the majority of games (in 2008-09) and that was massive for me.
"I felt ready to kick on again but obviously I did my shoulder and then the signings of (Richard) Dunne and (James) Collins was the last nail in the coffin for my Villa career.
"That was a very frustrating time but it was one of those things I can look back on as character building.
"I was a spare part but it rejuvenated my love for the game. It's only when you miss it that you realise what it means to play regular football."
Davies was jeered when the two sides met for a dour 0-0 draw at the KC Stadium in early October, vilified for his move on to Villa's rivals Birmingham.
"I've never been back to Villa Park. It wouldn't have been a clever idea to go back when I was a Birmingham player but this is the first time I've been up against them. It'll be interesting to go and see the old place.
"When Villa were up here there was a murmur of boos. It wasn't as strong as when West Brom were here, that's for sure.
"I expect that again. A lot of it is pantomime, just to get a reaction. But usually the reaction from me is to do well against my former teams."
Davies will be back through familiar corridors as part of a side with little in the way of pressure today. It would need a Norwich win at Chelsea tomorrow for the Tigers to be in any threat of danger but Villa, two points worse off, are much less comfortable.
Away games at Manchester City and Tottenham have dragged a natural emphasis upon their final home game of the season and Davies anticipates an anxious afternoon.
"If you'd said to me at the start of the season that Villa would be down there scrapping to stay in the league I'd have laughed at you, but the fact we've both got a job to do will make it a tense game," he added. "It's huge for them. They know they're not safe yet. With the last two games they've got, against Tottenham and Man City, some of my Villa mates have said to me they fear the worst. For us it's about going there and doing a job. Hopefully, the nervous tension their fans bring will play in our favour."
• Aston Villa v Hull City: Team news and preview
