Hot-shot Dale has goal fever

KEY MAN . . . Dale Stephens (right) has established himself in Athletic’s midfield.

PARK LIFE:

Confidence high as midfield ace breaks his scoring duck

DALE STEPHENS is backing himself to get on the scoresheet more often for Athletic.

The 20-year-old opened his account for the club with a clever finish nine minutes into the second half against Leyton Orient on Tuesday night.

It put the home side two goals up in the League One basement battle and was no more than Dave Penney's men deserved for a confident, fluent performance in which the team fashioned a host of scoring opportunities.

Stephens was mobbed by his team-mates after side-footing past goalkeeper Jamie Jones, profiting from a neat pass from Chris Taylor.

And the Bolton-based midfielder hopes there will be similar joyous moments to come in the next few weeks as Athletic continue their bid to climb away from the drop zone.

"Hopefully it can be the first of many for this club," said Stephens, who previously had only one goal to his name in the professional game, scored for Bury in the 2007/8 season.

"I have not yet really expressed my abilities going forward, but hopefully now, with a little bit of freedom, I can score some goals.

"I just tried to push it around the goalkeeper and it was a great pass from Tayls.

"I am delighted with the goal, but I would always take three points for the team over that.

"I think we were confident, anyway, and you could see that in recent performances.

"In the past couple of months we have played well, but haven't put the ball in the back of the net and if you don't do that, you are not going to win games.

"Hopefully we can start doing that as a team now."

Athletic's run of home matches totals four of the next five, with an away trip at Stockport sandwiched in between next Tuesday.

Stephens, whose form continues to be terrific in the centre of the park, reckons that if Athletic keep on playing the sort of football they have produced recently — often without getting the ultimate reward of league points — the season can end on a high.

"We have got a lot of good players in the team and the way we want to play is by passing the ball," said Stephens, who has another year left on his contract.

"You could see against Leyton Orient and also in the last two or three months that we have created loads of chances.

"It is important now that we pick up points off those teams who are around us.

"We had a tough week in which we played Colchester, Leeds and then Norwich. Performance-wise, if you take the Leeds game out of it, we competed.

"We have a good week ahead of us. Wycombe on Saturday is another massive game that we need to win, and hopefully we can do that.

"Games in hand look good on paper, but you need to win those games — lose them, and it isn't an advantage at all.

"All the lads are playing well but it is a fine line between success and failure.”

As for this Saturday's game against Wycombe, Stephens feels Athletic have unfinished business to attend to.

The reverse clash at Adams Park before Christmas saw the visitors batter the home side for most of the game and miss a penalty yet still recover from a goal down to lead 2-1 entering the final few minutes.

But a late penalty stole a point for Wycombe, leaving Athletic bitterly disappointed.

"We should have won," said Stephens. "We conceded a penalty down there that never should have been given and we really need to beat them this time."