Elokobi return put on hold

George Elokobi - injured

ATHLETIC have been dealt a blow with the news that George Elokobi has hit a setback on his return from a thigh injury.

The popular defender has been out of action for a month after tearing a muscle in a home game against Scunthorpe.

It is suspected Elokobi has a small growth of bone within the muscle, and no time scale has been put on his return.

Injuries elsewhere are also starting to bite for manager Lee Johnson. On-loan midfield man Michael Tidser has tweaked medial ligaments in his right knee and is looking at an absence of up to two weeks, while right-sided forward Amari Morgan-Smith has had hernia surgery which needs up to four weeks recovery time.

“Every player in the squad is important right now,” Johnson said, “so to not be able to call on George Elokobi, Amari Morgan-Smith and Michael Tidser, and having lost Brian Wilson recently, is not ideal. But we have to deal with it.”

Adam Lockwood made a successful return with Athletic’s reserves yesterday. The centre-back, who has not played this season after a foot injury in a warm-up game at Barrow, turned out for an hour against Bury.

“Adam Lockwood looked good,” Johnson said. “He probably now needs a couple of weeks of training and another game or two before he is ready to start for the first team.”

Athletic dropped to seventh in the league as a result of Swindon’s 3-0 win at Chesterfield last night.



TICKETS for the Bristol City game on Saturday have sold out for Athletic fans. The club had been given 490 tickets for the Ashton Gate clash.