Key-man Kelly is simply supreme

Date published: 28 November 2014


MAKING it look easy isn’t the same as it being easy.

And never was the case for his understated, yet pivotal role made more forcefully for captain Liam Kelly than in the Preston game this week.

Before the captain’s introduction at half-time, Athletic were directionless and limping to certain defeat. With Kelly in the side, the shift was immediate.

Jonathan Forte’s thrust was more eye-catching as he created both goals in the 2-2 draw with North End that ended in penalty shoot-out heartache.

But it was Kelly who provided the backbone. Short, sharp five-yard passes right where team mates wanted them and a reading of the game to win back possession and start new attacks: these aren’t flashy qualities, but the 24-year-old’s efforts of Tuesday night showed how indispensable he is to his manager’s plans.

“In that first 45 minutes when Liam Kelly wasn’t playing, I think everyone now realises what he does,” said Johnson

It took a while for Athletic fans to take to Kelly after his arrival from Bristol in the summer. But former team mate Johnson had no doubts about the Scotland international’s ability.

A three-year contract is unheard of for Athletic these days and for a player who had suffered such injury problems it represented a risk.

Since joining, Kelly has been an ever-present in a promising League One campaign for the new-look Athletic. There seems still to be more to come.

Kelly is as modest about his impact against Preston as he is forthright about the need for Athletic to turn draws into victories and propel a talented squad into the top six.

“Turn three or four of those draws to wins and we are almost looking at the top two,” Kelly said.

“We need to find a way, when we’re a goal up, to find that second one to kill off a game. Or just to find that final goal in the last 20 minutes to get over the line. That would put us right up there.”