Four more wins for survival

BOUNDARY PARK LIFE: TWELVE more points — that is what history suggests will be needed by Athletic to be sure of staying up.

Only twice in the past decade has a side had to accrue as many as 52 points in League One in order to finish the season outside the bottom four.

With Athletic currently on 40, that mark represents four wins from the remaining 10 matches Dave Penney's side have left.

Last season, Carlisle avoided dropping into League Two by gaining a half-century of points.

And you have to go back to the 2004-05 campaign — when Athletic needed a last-day 2-1 victory over Bradford to preserve their status — to find a campaign in which more than 50 is necessary to stay up.

Penney's men will do very well from here on in to match the goals total Athletic – then managed by John Sheridan – managed in that season five years ago.

The team racked up 42 goals at home and 18 on the road, almost double the tally Athletic's class of 2009/10 have managed at this stage of the season.


Points totals, season-by-season: What was needed to guarantee finishing outside the bottom four in League One

2008-09: 50

2007-08: 49

2006-07: 48

2005-06: 51

2004-05: 52

2003-04: 51

2002-03: 49

2001-02: 45

2000-01: 52

1999-00: 45