Wound up and ready to go

ATHLETIC’S players are wound up and ready to be unleashed tomorrow.

A 15-day break between matches ends with Doncaster Rovers’ arrival at SportsDirect.com Park.

And despite events of the last week, manager Lee Johnson has insulated his players against the media scrum.

It has been a case of giving each player exactly what he needed to help fire the team back to winning ways in what Johnson described as a “mini pre-season”.

He believes his threadbare squad — now without loan men Daniel Johnson, Michael Tidser, Paddy Kenny and Tom Youngs — will cope with the challenge posed by Paul Dickov’s side.

“We are ready,” Johnson said. “We are well rested after our 12 days off and we have judged it really well in training.

“You try to stay fit, injury-free, to eat right and live right and do everything that goes with becoming a professional.

Midfielder Liam Kelly, regarded as a vital member of the side, has joined training this week after a hamstring injury and may be in the starting line-up.

“He has trained at 60 per cent for a couple of days,” said Johnson. “We will add him to the squad. We are very low on numbers at the moment and he’s an integral part of our squad.”