Who will blink first in the heat of battle?

In the blue corner Dean Holden.

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Stand-in Dean is facing his biggest challenge yet at ex-boss returns

HE HAS no idea how long he will be in charge of Athletic.

His selection options continue to be severely compromised by injuries to key players.

His mobile phone has been ringing non-stop all week at every hour, with agents trying to get their players in on loan.

Tomorrow, he goes head-to-head with a close friend in Lee Johnson who is set for a barrage of abuse on his first return to SportsDirect.com Park since upping sticks to Barnsley.

Yet still, Dean Holden’s enthusiasm for his task is undiminished.

This is the life he had picked for himself when still plying his trade as a committed, hard-working centre-back who studied the game in his spare time.

Despite the workload, he is loving life as the caretaker boss given ultimate responsibility for team affairs for the ‘foreseeable’ future two weeks ago.

“Everything you do, including your coaching badges, is all for this,” Holden said. “I don’t feel under-prepared in any way. It is what I have worked towards.

“There is a lot going on, but I am comfortable with it.”

A larger than usual crowd at the weekly pre-match press conference is evidence that tomorrow’s clash, for which 3,000 Barnsley fans could make the journey from South Yorkshire, has more than the usual spice levels found in often-stodgy Sky Bet League One fare.

Some Athletic fans still seethe at Johnson’s decision to up and leave with his assistant Tommy Wright.

It is to be expected that Holden, handed his first role in full-time coaching by Johnson, should come to his former boss’s defence.

But he is under no illusions as to how whipped-up Athletic fans will be when the managers make their way to their respective technical areas at around 2.55pm tomorrow.

“Talking to people around the club they think it will be a really passionate crowd,” Holden added.

“One or two fans have come to me and said they weren’t happy with the way that it all happened.

“But Lee came in here with no experience, really, and did a very good job. Everyone has to remember hat.

WORKED

“I can tell you first-hand he worked every single hour trying to better the club.

“All the judgement is on 3pm on a Saturday, but behind the scenes, in terms of infrastructure and young players coming through, he worked very hard, as did Tommy (Wright) who was out at games three or four times a week.

“The chance (at Barnsley) came up and it was right for them. It was

obviously right for the club as well and they gave permission to talk.

“This is the cooling-down period now. Until someone is appointed, the fans want to know what is going on — rightly so.

“It is just a case of managing it as best you can and steering the ship to not just keep it on track, but push towards promotion.”

Holden’s record to date is three games played, with one win and two defeats.

The latest loss at Yeovil was a severe disappointment.

But that was a game played out with two right-footers in Connor Brown and Mike Jones operating on the left side, a centre-back in Adam Lockwood playing his second game in five days after a 10-month lay-off and a striker, Dominic Poleon, still

getting to grips with playing wide right in a four-man midfield.

Square pegs are having to be stuffed into round holes at times like these and all Holden can do is make the best of it.

“You are dealt these cards and you move them around the best you can,” he said.

“We are lucky we have a couple who can play in different positions. Ideally they would want to stay in one position and play that all the way through.

“It can work against you being called a utility man, but in

circumstances like this it really goes for you.”

Athletic chairman Simon Corney flew back to the club yesterday.

As yet, there is still no word on when a new manager will be appointed and no sense of great urgency on the board’s behalf to get someone in.

Holden’s audition for the role goes on. Would he want it? At this stage he isn’t prepared to say.

“It is all good experience,” Holden added. “If the club decide to be in the position to ask me, ‘do you want to throw your name in?’ then I will have to lock myself in a room with my

family and decide.

“But until then, it is not even on the table.

“There is so much going on, and trying to get one or two players in has taken up most of my time away from the training ground this week.

“I don’t need a daily reminder from Simon or Neil Joy. I am quite

comfortable with the role at the moment.

“The club will make sure they do what they need to in order to get the right man.

“It is important for the position we are in at the moment.

“They took a gamble on ‘Jonno’ last time and it paid off.

“They will do their due

diligence and in the

meantime, I will carry on.

“I am loving doing what I am doing and am happy with the responsibility.

“I am comfortable with the role at the moment.”