Play the hand you’re dealt – Dean

DEAN Holden continues to adopt a positive attitude in the face of thoughts about what might have been.

Right from first being installed as manager — initially as a caretaker, and now until the end of the season — the 35 year old has seen his selection options wrecked by injuries. Physio Craig Schofield has been the busiest man at the club. Holden and his lieutenants Tony Philliskirk and Adam Lockwood have had to come up with strategies to cope with the enforced absences.

With seven games left, Athletic are 13th in the table but still only five points short of the play-offs.

Had Liam Kelly, George Elokobi, James Wilson and Joseph Mills been on board for Holden’s eight games in charge, the gap to the top six would probably have been smaller.

But Athletic’s boss remains determined to look forward: “It would be stupid to say it hasn’t affected us; we’ve been missing some of our best players. But as I have said from day one, these are the cards we’ve been dealt. I try not to use up energy thinking what if?

“Mat Sadler, Anthony Gerrard and Luke Woodland have come in and done really well. The lads have stepped up and we are still only five points off the play-offs, which is remarkable really. Everyone has pulled together, which you have to at times like this. It isn’t easy as you are taking on some of the bigger squads in the division. Equally, it’s a brilliant challenge to face.”

Sadler and Woodland are with Athletic until after the home game with Sheffield United on Saturday, April 11, while Gerrard’s stay is due to run until the end of the season. All three have had a positive impact. But ideally, Holden wants Athletic not to be in a position of requiring emergency loans.

“We had a settled squad until I took the job then we had a barrage of injuries,” he added. “But the important thing is we haven’t just allowed these injuries to keep happening - the physio department has put measures in place and touch wood, it’s going all right at the moment. We’ve hopefully nipped it in the bud.”