POTENT FORCE . . . Lee Hughes (front) and Craig Davies have the potential to be one of the top partnerships in League One.

MICHAEL YARWOOD’s Boundary Park season review

WITH Athletic hoping to launch a bid for automatic promotion next season, the fitness of Craig Davies and Lee Hughes promises to be vital.

Last term, Davies and Hughes combined for a strike rate of 22 goals in 58 starts, but the number of games they missed was a hindrance to boss John Sheridan.

Davies was out for over two months with a badly torn hamstring, while Hughes suffered from groin and hernia problems after his much-debated arrival at Boundary Park.

In peak condition next term, they could potentially be among League One’s most effective pairings.

Athletic had to fill a sizeable gap when they lost Chris Porter last summer, but they spent around £65,000 to sign Davies from Verona and also took a gamble on Hughes at the end of his three years in prison.

Elsewhere in the scoring charts, Neal Eardley chipped in well from defence and midfield, while Aberdeen-bound Gary McDonald reached his half-dozen with a goal on the final day.

GOALS (71 in all competitions):

1st: Craig Davies 14

2nd: Lee Hughes 8

3rd equal: Neal Eardley, Gary McDonald 6

Also: 5 – Chris Taylor; 4 – Mark Allott; 3 – Neil Kilkenny, Andy Liddell, Deane Smalley, Matt Wolfenden, Jason Jarrett; 2 – Michael Ricketts, Neal Trotman, Lewis Alessandra, Leon Constantine; 1 – JP Kalala, Reuben Hazell, David Livermore, Jordan Robertson, own goal.     

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