Dynamo Dale earns tribute from Penney

DALE STEPHENS has added steel to skill in Athletic’s midfield.

LATICS LIFE: DALE STEPHENS has been a shining light amid the recent gloom for Athletic.

The cultured central midfielder has made himself a permanent fixture in the middle of the park after first coming into the side purely through an injury crisis.

There was a general feeling that the 22-year-old did not possess the physical attributes necessary to scrap his way through the grittier Coca-Cola League One clashes.

But in addition to his cultured passing — a peach of a crossfield ball pinged 50 yards right into the feet of Joe Colbeck at Colchester was a particular recent highlight — Stephens has heeded boss Dave Penney's advice to add some steel to his game.

At Tranmere, he was even brave enough to get involved in a confrontation with huge centre-back Ian Goodison and he is as happy as anyone to scrap for possession.

And the Leeds game aside, when both men were forced to fire-fight as the home side dominated the play, he and partner Dean Furman appear to have struck up a very useful partnership in Athletic's engine room.

In all, Stephens has had quite an impact after finally recovering from a long-standing hip flexor muscle which affected him badly last term.

"Dale has been first-class," said Penney, who gave a player originally signed by John Sheridan before the start of last season his starting debut at Carrow Road against Saturday's opponents Norwich City.

"Last season he was injured a lot, but he is a young boy who is growing. He is only 20.

"He seems to be doing the ugly stuff well now — the tackling and the work-rate and closing people down — and everybody knows that he can play.

"We have been delighted with the way Dale has come on in leaps and bounds.

"He fully deserves to be in the side."

In addition to the Stephens-Furman axis in central midfield, Penney is equally happy with the other sections of his side's 'spine'.

Centre-backs Reuben Hazell and Sean Gregan have been rock-like lately — with able assistance from ever-improving left-back Joe Jacobson — and up front, while not finding the net too often together, the signs from the duo of Pawel Abbott and Jason Price have offered hope that the chronic lack of goals will soon rectify itself.

The goal for Penney now is to get the wide players functioning.

Deane Smalley, a permanent fixture in the starting line-up since he came into the side at the start of November, and Chris Taylor, on the way back from various knocks and bouts of illness, are not creating enough scoring opportunities from the wings and this is something the Athletic boss is keen to address.

"The two centre-halves have got a good partnership between them, which has been long-established now," Penney added.

"The central midfielders are getting a partnership, too, and Dean and Dale have been excellent. And the two centre-forwards, Pricey and Pawel, too.

"Obviously we need this in other areas, between whoever plays wide right, which has been Deane and Alex (Marrow) now, and also on the left-hand side with Joe and Tayls.

"So they need to come to the party and we need to get more out of them.

"Down the middle we look solid enough, but we need to chip in with goals from out wide."