Rough and tumble

MIDFIELD man Mark Allott is expecting another tough battle at Stockport County tonight.

Latics preview: Get set for more fireworks, says stand-in skipper

STAND-IN captain Mark Allott is expecting another frenetic battle when Athletic face Stockport County tonight.

Last weekend’s clash with Huddersfield delivered high tempo and strong tackling, with Allott on the receiving end more than most, and he believes it could be a repeat performance at Edgeley Park.

Local rivalry will be simmering again as Athletic bid to regain top spot in League One while newly-promoted Stockport target their first home win.

Midfield man Allott, who has taken over as skipper during Sean Gregan’s ban, said his team must be ready for a fight.

He explained: “The Huddersfield game was a bit rough and tumble, but you expect that and it’s good to have another local derby straight away.

“Everybody enjoys these games and I know we’ve sold all 2,000 of our tickets, so it’s exciting to be involved.

“It will lift the players to see so many fans there, and I can guarantee we’ll be going all out to give them three points.

“That’s one of the main things we’ve done this season — we are trying to attack every team for 90 minutes and the results so far have been good.

“We are even attacking when you might expect us to sit back a bit, like at Hartlepool when it was 3-3 and we were down 10 men.

“We were still pushing forward, still in the ascendancy, and it’s not often we give opposition defences a break.

“We’ll do our best to put Stockport under pressure as well, but it’s a very tough game because they will still be on a high from last season.

“I’m sure winning the play-off final gave them a lot of belief. They will have carried that through to this season and feel they can handle the step up.”

Stockport were promoted to League One after an entertaining 3-2 victory over Rochdale at Wembley.

They had a storming second half to the campaign, set a club record of eight consecutive away wins and have re-invested much of the income from their big-money sale of Liam Dickinson — Morecambe’s Carl Baker cost £175,000 alone, while the deal for Linfield striker Peter Thompson was also in six figures.

Former Athletic defender Gareth Owen has been a linchpin of Stockport’s rise, playing in almost every game since he left Boundary Park in 2006.

Yet there are huge doubts over whether Owen will face his old club tonight as he has been stripped of the captaincy following a bust-up with manager Jim Gannon.

The pair clashed when Owen, having been at fault for a goal in last week’s draw at Cheltenham, reacted angrily to being taken off.

There was an argument on the touchline and then, straight after the game, Gannon announced that 20-year-old Michael Raynes would be taking the armband against Athletic.

LEAGUE ONE FIXTURES — Tonight: Hartlepool v Swindon; Stockport v Athletic. Tomorrow: Brighton v Cheltenham; Carlisle v Tranmere; Colchester v Bristol Rovers; Crewe v Northampton; Hereford v Walsall; Huddersfield v Leicester; Leyton Orient v Scunthorpe; Millwall v MK Dons; Peterborough v Leeds; Yeovil v Southend.