Increased squad options are helping Athletic

Having plenty of options available has certainly helped Athletic boss Richie Wellens’ cause recently.

Athletic have enjoyed an impressive February and March so far, remaining unbeaten in five games, while they moved a couple of points clear of the Sky Bet League One drop zone in the process.

Wellens’ men host stuttering Portsmouth on Saturday, and once again a fully-fit squad means all the players are being kept on their toes.

“We had games in January where the team pretty much picked itself,” said Wellens.

“With that can come complacency because certain players maybe know they’re going to play no matter what.

“When you’ve got a bigger squad, the ones that are starting, the ones that have got the shirt, need to work harder to try and keep it.

“It’s simple really. If you’ve got the shirt and you play well, you keep it.

“If you don’t, and if you’ve got a big squad behind you knocking on the door, then you run the risk of losing your shirt if you don’t perform.

“I’m happy at the moment.

“We didn’t start well against Bury, but when you look around at your bench and you see Aaron Holloway, Eoin Doyle, Patrick McEleney, Ryan McLaughlin, Rob Hunt and Brian Wilson, you know you’ve got options to change the course of a game.”

Gutsy Athletic battled back bravely from an early two-goal deficit at Gigg Lane last weekend, roaring back to earn a potentially precious 2-2 draw against a Bury side who are fighting hard to escape the bottom four themselves.

Wellens, whose only slight injury worry ahead of the weekend surrounds skipper Anthony Gerrard (calf), said: “The way we came back in that game was really pleasing.

“We’ve shown that character all season, though.

“When I took over we went on a fantastic run, then we had a bit of difficulty and in January we didn’t know what players we could pick, but every time I sent a team out onto the pitch they performed.

“Even if there was doubts about how we perform or some things we’d worked on, one thing I can always say about these players is that they give me everything on the pitch.

“I never question the application.

“We’ve been 2-0 down and come back, but I do want us to start quicker on Saturday.

“It’s important at home that you get on the front foot and get in your opponents’ faces.

“We need to get the crowd up on their feet early on.”

While Athletic will be looking to move further away from the drop zone with a win against Pompey on Saturday, Kenny Jackett’s visitors are not enjoying the best of spells at present.

A run of four defeats in their last five games has seem Pompey slide to 12^th in the table, seven points shy of the play-off places.