Tarkowski lift for Latics

James Tarkowski

JAMES Tarkowski has boosted Athletic manager Paul Dickov’s defensive options by successfully coming through his run-out with the reserves.

The 18-year-old centre-back played for around an hour in a 3-2 defeat for Lee Duxbury’s side against Macclesfield at the new second-team home of Chapel Road.

With Jean-Yves Mvoto now back from a one-match suspension served as a result of his red card at Scunthorpe and on-loan Nathan Clarke enjoying a goalscoring debut against Rochdale, the return to fitness of Tarkowski further stiffens a backline which kept its first clean sheet of the season in the derby encounter at Boundary Park.

A capable footballer as well as a pure defender, Tarkowski made a total of nine appearances for the first team last season as a second-year scholar but has yet to feature this term — his first campaign as a fully-fledged professional — as a result of a fractured toe picked up during pre-season.

The New Moston-born player resumed full training last week.

Ryan Brooke scored and also hit the goal frame on two occasions as Athletic’s second string suffered defeat in the opening game of the Central League, West Division.

A clinical finish off a Kirk Millar pass saw Brooke score the game’s opener against the Silkmen, before a rush of three goals in 13 minutes before half-time left Athletic shell-shocked.

Brooke’s chip and then a 25-yard free-kick struck crossbar and post respectively and after Tarkowski had been replaced by Glenn Belezika, Millar was again the creator as first-year scholar Danny Gossett netted three minutes after arriving on the pitch as a substitute.