Kalala loan to signal the end

JP KALALA: Loan move to Grimsby Town.

JP KALALA’S loan move to Grimsby Town looks to have signalled the end of his Athletic career.

The midfielder has been frozen out all season at Boundary Park and is expected to leave permanently during the transfer window.

Kalala has returned to Grimsby – the club where he made his breakthrough in English football – on an initial deal to the beginning of January.

He is under contract with Athletic for the rest of this season but was told several months ago that he could go for free.

Though Kalala made 26 appearances last term after moving from Yeovil, he had spells out of favour and was also hit by knee and ankle injuries.

His last senior game was in March, while his only involvement this term was as an unused substitute in the Carling Cup defeat against Burnley.

The Congo international was a popular figure at Grimsby as he helped them reach the League Two play-offs in 2006 and also hit their winning goal in a cup tie with Spurs.

The Mariners sent out an SOS as they have the worst record in the country, with no wins from 14 league games this season.

Meanwhile, Athletic boss John Sheridan is set to name an unchanged side for tomorrow’s home clash with Yeovil Town.

Sheridan was delighted with the midweek victory over Scunthorpe – a result which moved his team up to fourth – and he will challenge the same players to produce the same kind of performance.

He said: “People will be expecting us to win, and maybe to win easily, but football doesn’t work like that.

“We have to earn the right to play our own game, and that’s what the players should be striving to do.

“If we play like we did on Tuesday we’ll win again, but (Yeovil’s) Russell Slade is a good manager who will make it difficult for us.

“Russell is very shrewd, so they will be organised and they will get everybody behind the ball. We’ll have to show a bit of patience.”

Yeovil winger Andy Welsh is likely to miss out through injury, but Aidan Downes is back from knee trouble.

ATHLETIC (from): Crossley, Eardley, Hazell, Gregan, Jones, Liddell, Allott, Whitaker, Taylor, Alessandra, Hughes, Lomax, Maher, Smalley, Ormerod, Davies, Fleming.

YEOVIL (from): Begovic, Alcock, Brown, Owen, Jones, Welsh, Way, Roberts, Schofield, Murtagh, Rendell, Warne, Tomlin, Peltier, Forbes, Skiverton, McCollin, Downes, Smith.