Lift-off for Smith

ON THE UP . . . Matt Smith in action at Chesterfield.

MATT Smith says his focus didn’t waver during a long spell without starting a match for Athletic.

The forward appeared from the off at Chesterfield as Shefki Kuqi was rested for the first time.

It was the first time the 22-year-old had begun a first-team fixture on the pitch since a 3-1 defeat at Yeovil in August — only the club’s second league clash of the season.

“It gets a little frustrating being on the bench,” admitted Smith, who broke a

27-game sequence of matches in which he has been named as a substitute.

“But I have got into the mindset of not feeling sorry for myself, staying focused and being ready to go when called upon.

“It was great to be back in the team and to walk out at 3pm and get a goal was fantastic.

“But I was a bit disappointed. I thought we could have won the game.”

As well as his first-half header, a third strike of the season for the big striker and his first when starting, Smith felt he could have been awarded a second-half penalty at the B2net Stadium for a push on him by Neal Trotman.

“I was frustrated the decisions didn’t go our way,” he added, also referring to a shove on Robbie Simpson.

“They were game-defining decisions.”



PAUL Dickov explained that the reason behind taking off Luca Scapuzzi against Notts County at the weekend — a move which brought to the fray substitute Filipe Morais who equalised and set up the winning goal for Athletic with a corner — was down to an injury concern.

“Some fans weren’t happy when I took Luca off, but they have to look at the circumstances,” Dickov said.

“He was feeling a tight hamstring at half-time and we gave him 15 to 20 minutes to see how he was.”