Kabba stands by for Latics debut

NEW loan striker Steve Kabba is on stand-by to make his debut for Athletic in tomorrow’s Coca-Cola League One fixture at Millwall.

The 27-year-old front man has been signed from Championship club Watford for the remainder of the season.

Manager John Sheridan believes Kabba, who spent the first half on the current campaign on loan at Blackpool, will be a useful addition to the squad.

He said: “He is an experienced striker who has played in the Championship for a number of years. He will add pace to our front line and give us a different dimension to our game. He will be a big threat to opponents.

“It is a worry that we have not been scoring as many goals as we ought to, which is why I have addressed the problem by bringing in Steve.”

Kabba, previously with Crystal Palace and Sheffield United, is included in the 20-man squad for tomorrow’s game but, as he has not played any first-team football since December, Sheridan will assess his fitness in training before making a decision on his involvement.

Daniel Jones is also named in the squad after returning for a second loan spell from Wolves. But the left-sided player has also not played since mid-December when badly damaging ankle ligaments playing for Athletic at Peterborough.

Sheridan is looking for a positive response from his players after their midweek home defeat by Bristol Rovers, saying the games against promotion-chasing Millwall and Leeds United (on Monday) are massively important.

While disappointed with Athletic’s recent form - they have won only once in their last six league matches - Sheridan believes his team will come good again.

He said: “We are talking about small margins.

“Deane Smalley might have scored a late winner at Yeovil, when he hit the bar. Lee Hughes (missed penalty) and Dean Windass (hit bar) had chances to put us 2-0 up in midweek and we could now have five extra points and we would be in a totally different position.”

ATHLETIC (from): Fleming, Budtz, Hines, Eardley, Lomax, Jones, Golbourne, Gregan, Hazell, Stam, Smalley, Liddell, Maher, Allott, Whitaker, Taylor, Hughes, Windass, Kabba, Alessandra.


ATHLETIC remind fans that there will be no tickets for Monday’s game against Leeds on sale after 3pm on the day.

The Boundary Park ticket office is open to 5pm tonight, from 9am to noon tomorrow and from 9am on Monday morning.