Latics’ nine lost months of player time

Reporter: Matthew Chambers
Date published: 23 June 2014


LEE Johnson accepts the blame for a large number of lost days of training among the squad last season — but has a solution for the upcoming fight.

Athletic’s manager says the number of sessions missed to “preventable tweaks, pulls and tears” among the squad was 277 — equal to more than NINE MONTHS on the sidelines.

With Lee Steele having departed as fitness coach, the responsibility next season falls to well-qualified youngster Anthony White, who will double as goalkeeping coach.

But work on the training ground by Johnson is the focus for improvement when the players return to training, with a reduction in physio Jon Guy’s workload the goal.

“The concern is we can’t afford to pick up injuries, especially in pre-season,” Johnson said.

“There is nothing we can do about contact injuries. They are part of the game. But last season the days missed by players through muscle pulls and tears was far too many.

“I have to accept criticism for that. Sometimes the training was too intense.”

He picked out Genseric Kusunga and Matteo Lanzoni as two men who had suffered this way. The plan for Kusunga, who missed a large chunk of last season due to hamstring issues, is to pick up his training carefully.
“We are going to ease him in,” Johnson said. “Hopefully a slow pre-season will sort him out.”


Athletic’s current first pre-season friendly is at Curzon Ashton on July 10, but another match could be arranged in advance of that.

Johnson is unconcerned about what appears to be a tricky opening month of the season for Latics.

“People inevitably pick the points you will gain and drop by looking at the fixture list,” said the manager, whose side face Preston, Leyton Orient and Doncaster in August.

“It never plays out that way. Every game is tough and every game is winnable if you get the mindset right.”