Dickov picked Latics off the floor – Feeney

FIRED UP . . . Warren Feeney is hungry to do well for Athletic after recovering from a groin injury.

FIT-AGAIN Warren Feeney is following his manager's ethos to the letter.

One of the hallmarks of Paul Dickov's so-far successful reign at Athletic has been that he has refused to get carried away despite good results which have propelled the club to second spot in the early npower League One table.

Dickov drills it into his players that they need to be fully focused at all times, no matter the standard of opposition.

Striker Feeney, who impressed in the draw at Charlton after coming off the substitutes' bench to replace Djeny Bembo-Leta, is a hard-working forward in the mould of his boss.

And with Yeovil arriving at Boundary Park on Saturday following a run of three successive defeats, Feeney is following the former Manchester City forward’s line that nothing should be taken for granted.

"From what people have said to me, and this is no disrespect to the previous management, the team was on the floor last season and there wasn't enough passion," said Feeney (29), who has 35 caps for Northern Ireland.

"I think you can see in the way we are playing now the influence of the manager.

"Everyone is working so hard for each other, which he likes to see. And on top of that, we are playing good football as well.

"At this stage of the season you want to get as many points in the bag as early as possible.

"After what we have done so far a lot of people are expecting us to just turn up and beat Yeovil, but they will come here fired up, that is for sure.

"We can't get drawn in by all the talk and will just take one game at a time to see where it takes us."

Feeney was at the centre of a dispute between Dickov and the Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington when he returned from international duty in Montenegro with a groin injury.

For his part, the former Luton and Cardiff striker said that while he felt an unfamiliar tightness prior to the midweek international fixture, his enthusiasm to play took over.

Now back to 100-per-cent fitness after sitting out the home win over Notts County, Feeney is unequivocal about his place in the side — he simply wants to start matches for Athletic.

"I am the sort of person who just wants to play football," said Feeney.

"I felt a little bit of tightness after the first game of the season at Tranmere and didn't know what it was, really.

"It turns out it was muscle fatigue but I was just eager to play, then at the end of the Northern Ireland game it really tightened up.

"I didn't then want to come straight back against Notts County and injure myself further as that could mean missing six weeks rather than just one.

"I am selfish in that I just want to play now and if called upon I will be more than ready."



Athletic's reserves saw off Tranmere 2-0 at Stalybridge to claim a first totesport.com League win of the season.
A Joe Jacobson free-kick in the first half and a neat lob from substitute Connor Hughes after the break secured the victory, which follows on from last week's disappointing 6-0 loss to Burnley.