Kelly keen on lucrative cup run

FULLY FOCUSED: Athletic captain Liam Kelly recognises the importance of a good FA Cup run.

LIAM Kelly is targeting an immediate return to winning ways as Athletic bid to start swelling club coffers with FA Cup cash.

The reward for beating Leyton Orient on Saturday is £18,000 - and making it beyond round two would net another £27,000 as well as a potentially high-profile third-round tie against Premier League opponents.

With gate receipts split between clubs, landing another away-day at a big club could generate the sort of money that could help Athletic to buy new players.

Captain Kelly knows the sort of journey a win against Orient could start - and hopes the team’s third loss of the season at Bristol won’t have a bad effect on the team.

“It’s a big opportunity to move through the rounds, get some good draws and get a good bit of cash in for the club,” said Kelly.

“We are looking forward to it and, hopefully, we can put in a better performance than we did against Orient earlier this season, when we lost 3-1.

“On another day we would have come away from Bristol City with a 1-1 draw or 2-1 win. We can’t let it affect our confidence. We must move on and keep on doing what we’ve been doing.

“On the balance of play, we were unfortunate not to come away with a draw. Our performance in spells was good, particularly in the second half, and we carved a few opportunities where perhaps we should have scored.”



ATHLETIC have sold out their allocation of 3,000 tickets for the derby clash with Rochdale on November 29.



ATHLETIC full-back Connor Brown has joined Carlisle United on an emergency 28-day loan deal.

Brown, who has played for the first team six times this season, has joined the Cumbrian outfit in a bid gain match fitness.