Forte’s fitness battle to go to the wire

GOAL-hero Jonthan Forte tweaked a thigh muscle in the 1-0 defeat of Fleetwood.

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ATHLETIC’S leading goal scorer Jonathan Forte faces a race against time to be fit for Saturday’s home clash against Gillingham.

Sheffield-born Forte (28) has made an explosive start to his Athletic career with five goals in six starts since his summer switch from Southampton.

He tweaked a thigh muscle during last weekend’s match-winning effort against high-flying Fleetwood and has since been receiving treatment.

Athletic boss Lee Johnson said: “We’ll have to keep assessing Jonathan. He’s had an injection in his knee, which is okay. The thigh muscle is more of a concern. We’ll have to see how he recovers over the next couple of days, but I’d rate him 50-50 to be fit.”

Loan midfielder Michael Tidser sustained a slight calf injury yesterday as Athletic lost 4-2 against Bolton Wanderers in the Robinson’s Brewery Manchester Senior Cup quarter-final at the Lancashire FA headquarters in Leyland. He should be available for selection after treatment.

Jack Tuohy and Amari Morgan-Smith scored for Athletic yesterday, during a performance about which Johnson later had mixed feelings.

“It was a good run-out for some of the lads and there were plenty of positives, but we made some bad individual errors for their goals and I wasn’t so pleased about that. It was a tough game.”


Johnson has revealed that reported strike target Chris Porter is only one of a number of players he is still interested in adding to his squad.

The Athletic boss said: “Chris is still Sheffield United’s player. There have been no enquiries from us, but that’s not to say there won’t be, going forward. But he is one of 10 or 11 players of that kind of style we are thinking about.”


CLUB captain Adam Lockwood is making good progress as he continues his recovery from a foot injury sustained on the eve of the season.

He is now out of a protective boot and is able to bear weight on the foot, and is pencilled in for a return to training in around three weeks’ time.