Gutsy Cheltenham battling up run-in

ATHLETIC need to be on their guard in tonight’s Coca-Cola League One fixture at bottom club Cheltenham Town.

Twelve points adrift of safety with only nine games left, the Gloucestershire side appear destined for League Two despite manager Martin Allen’s claims they can still stave off the threat of relegation.

Judging by the results of the last 10 days it looks as though Cheltenham are determined to go down with all guns blazing.

They ended a run of 16 league and cup games without a win by defeating Hartlepool United 2-0 a week last Saturday and followed that with another win at Whaddon Road three days later against Tranmere.

And they were denied a third straight victory by Andy Butler’s injury-time equaliser at Huddersfield, where Allen’s side surrendered a 2-0 lead.

It was still an impressive result for Cheltenham, who in the space of a week picked up seven points, which is almost a third of their total for the entire campaign.

Athletic manager Joe Royle was impressed with Cheltenham against Tranmere.

He said: “When I saw them they were very busy and honest and were quite a surprise bearing in mind they are so low in the table.

“They have beaten Tranmere and will see us as another top-half scalp.

“We will have to do things better than we did on Saturday when we weren’t desperately bad, but weren’t desperately good either.

“I think they have accepted it is going to be very hard for them to escape relegation and they are playing with complete freedom.

“When a side plays like that they are dangerous and we will pay them respect.

“They will be a handful, though at this stage of the season the league table doesn’t lie and they are bottom because overall they have not been at their best.

“Martin Allen’s teams are never easy to play against. They are quite direct, but they can also pass the ball as well.

“They have a pacy pair up front in Elvis Hammond and Nicholas Bignall and they have also just signed Leon Constantine on loan who has been a good pro and always contributed wherever he has played.”

Athletic fans are aware of Constantine as he had a loan spell at Boundary Park last season, scoring twice in eight appearances.

But another ex-Athletic player won’t be featuring for Cheltenham tonight as Josh Low is banned after being sent off at Huddersfield on Saturday.