Streetwise Dickov happy to get tough

Shefki Kuqi

ATHLETIC manager Paul Dickov admits he has designed his squad around the need to be rough as well as smooth this season.

Though swift attacking football characterised the back-to-back away wins at Walsall and Leyton Orient, the latter game in particular was notable for featuring a side no longer shy when it comes to physical confrontation.

At the forefront of that hard-man operation is striker Shefki Kuqi, chief creator of two of Athletic's three goals at Brisbane Road.

It was noticeable, too, that all three goals can be traced back to Athletic's new-found aerial domination.

For the first, Robbie Simpson flicked into the path of scorer Kuqi; Jean-Yves Mvoto won a back-post knock-back in the build-up to Reuben Reid's second, itself a header; and of all people, Filipe Morais set in motion the third on the counter-attack with a headed clearance deep in his own territory.

"I don't want to get labelled with anything here, but one thing we struggled with at times last year was the physical side," said Dickov, who squares off against his good friend and Brentford manager Uwe Rosler at Boundary Park tomorrow.

"The big defeats we had were against physical teams.

"Physically and technically, as well, we have better players this year to cope with the demands of this division.

"In the last two games I told the boys, 'if we have to win ugly, then go out and win ugly'.

"I want to win playing good football. But last year, possibly Dagenham away was the only time we won an 'ugly' game.

"To pick up points in any division when not playing well, you have to grind it out."

Full of confidence and looking to move ahead of the Bees in the npower League One table with a third straight win, Athletic are certainly not struggling at the moment.

Rosler's Brentford have also had a good start to the campaign, though.

The 42-year-old former strike partner of Dickov's at Manchester City, who took over in June at Griffin Park after managing at Lillestrom, Viking and Molde in Norway, has presided over only one away defeat in four league games.

Brentford are currently eighth in the table, two points clear of Athletic, with former Dickov target Clayton Donaldson and ex-Millwall man Gary Alexander leading the way in terms of goalscoring with three apiece.