Talk of the town

PAUL DICKOV: lets's get the fire back

Dickov: I want people to take notice of us again

PAUL Dickov has urged his players to set tongues wagging again.

It is only just over five weeks since Athletic hammered Hartlepool United 4-0 at Boundary Park to go fifth in npower League One — a mere six points off Bournemouth in the second automatic promotion spot, with a game in hand.

The good form that got the team there has since evaporated. Athletic are without a win in eight games, a sequence which has seen only three goals scored and three points picked up.

But amid the defensive woes in the 3-2 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek, there were promising signs for Dickov.

The Athletic boss is now banking on his team cutting out the errors, to once again help become a talked-about club for the right reasons against an in-form Leyton Orient side, who have sprung from nowhere to become play-off contenders.

“Russell Slade has got them playing good football and they are picking up results,” said Dickov, whose side take on the O’s at Brisbane Road tomorrow.

“People will be looking at it and possibly not giving us a chance.

“They are the in-form team, not just in the division but in the country.

“People have talked about us being on a slippery slope, so my challenge to the players is to get people to talk about us again.

“Earlier on in the season people were talking about how good a young team we had, with high energy, so we want to get that back.

“People are now saying they are inexperienced and that they have gone, so what a great game for us to get back on track.”

Chris Taylor was Athletic’s goal scorer in a 1-1 draw at Boundary Park the last time the teams met in October, a result viewed by many as an opportunity missed.

“When they came up here and we were playing well, it was one everybody expected us to win,” Dickov said. “But I knew how hard it was going to be.

“I know people are writing us off — but look where they have come from, with their run. We could do that.”

Striker Reuben Reid is battling illness to make the game, but Dickov hopes he will be fine.

Reid is likely to start on the substitutes’ bench and though Sunderland centre-back Jean-Yves Mvoto won’t be back on loan at the club in time to play, Dickov hopes he will return in time for the home game with Brighton on Saturday week.