Latics facing ultimate test

DEAN FURMAN . . . Athletic will be hoping their inspirational skipper will return after injury for the difficult period until the end of the season.

Fixture backlog will stretch resources
SQUEEZING a backlog of fixtures into ever-shrinking gaps is difficult for a club of Athletic's limited resources.

Aside from the vexing issue of trying to find space for all the rearranged games to slip into — between now and the end of the season, there are only five 'free' Tuesdays, with a to-be-arranged fixture at Stevenage likely to reduce that number to four — there is the issue of player fatigue, both mental and physical.

Constantly playing matches puts pressure on bodies and soft-tissue injuries can start to appear, even with the most careful management.

And the exertion of having a constantly alert mind during those games can also take its toll. Costly mistakes can creep in.

For teams like Charlton or Huddersfield, to name but two of Athletic's well-heeled rivals, problems like these can be side-stepped through careful rotation of first-team players.

Cash-strapped Athletic, who were down to the bare bones of 16 fit first-team players had the midweek game at Stevenage not been called off, have no such recourse.

Athletic's squad, which was bigger last season, played 28 times from the turn of the year as a result of not turning out at all in the month of December due to frozen pitches.

This time, the similarly-freezing weather conditions at present mean that a set of 20 matches have to fit inside the season's final 85 days.

Few Athletic fans need reminding of how badly the team faded away last time out.

At the same point in 2010-11, manager Paul Dickov was looking to maintain a play-off push with the club sat fifth in npower League One.

It all went horribly wrong from then on in.

A bout of mumps which spread through the ranks and a wholesale loss of fire power saw Athletic slump to a 17th-placed finish, with only 12 points and eight goals arriving in the final 18 matches.

A similar tally from now on in would leave the club deep in the relegation mire.

The suggestion that Athletic face a battle to avoid the drop to League Two is premature.

A significant cushion protects the team from the bottom four and games in hand could be very valuable in climbing back towards the division's midriff.

Dickov is still taking few chances, though, in tinkering with the approach taken last time out.

"There are lots of fixtures coming up and (Stevenage) just adds another one to the list," said the Athletic boss, whose side are 16th at present.

"There are not many free midweek dates left now between Saturdays, which is a little disappointing

"But it is one of those things. We will use it as a mini pre-season.

"One thing we have learnt from last year is that we possibly tried to look after them too much, rest-wise.

"This time we will get plenty of fitness work into the boys."

For what could be a long slog between now and early May, healthy bodies will certainly be needed at Boundary Park.