Black’s boost for Athletic

PAUL BLACK could be back sooner than expected for Athletic.

The 19-year-old left-back, who has done an excellent job coming into the side in difficult circumstances three games ago, hobbled off the field six minutes before half-time against Exeter at Boundary Park.

At the time it appeared Athletic’s injury jinx had struck again, with a total of eight men with first-team squad numbers already out of action.

But Black’s groin problem is not believed to be as serious as first feared and he could be back in contention for a place on the coach to Wycombe this weekend.

That would in turn give boss Dave Penney a positive selection headache, something of a rarity this season.

Joe Jacobson, who has also impressed with a series of solid showings in the heart of Athletic’s defence, switched to left-back in Black’s place against Exeter, with Alex Marrow moving to centre-back and Dean Furman coming off the bench to play in central midfield.

And the rejigged line-up worked a treat for Athletic, who went on to score two unanswered goals while playing some of their most confident football for weeks.

One player who is highly unlikely to make the trip to Adams Park is Tom Eaves.

The highly-rated 17-year-old was a late call-up to Penney’s first-team squad last week and though he didn’t get a place on the substitutes’ bench, was due to turn out for the reserves last night until he turned an ankle in training.

Lee Duxbury’s second string put up a strong showing to see off Preston 3-0 in a totesport.com League Cup group game played at Stalybridge.

Ferenc Fodor opened the scoring a minute into the second half with a long-range effort and Kieran Lee doubled the advantage after a neat move four minutes before the hour.

Ryan Brooke got Athletic’s third, deflecting Fodor’s header from a Lee corner into the net for a second successive win in the competition.