Captain to miss Colchester clash

THUMBS UP: Shefki Kuqi salutes the crowd after his match-winning goal against Tranmere.

Furman setback for Latics

ATHLETIC skipper Dean Furman has suffered a setback in his bid to return from a knee injury.

The midfield maestro had hoped to return against Tranmere at the weekend — but instead, he could only watch as his team-mates earned a 1-0 win.

And he is almost certain to miss tomorrow’s home clash with Colchester.

Furman had an injection 10 days ago before returning to training on Thursday. But he was unable to operate at full capacity and will consult a specialist.

Club officials still expect him to return to action soon, but Athletic are reluctant to risk further, more serious damage to strained medial knee ligaments.

Boss Paul Dickov said: “It is looking very unlikely that we will have Dean for the Colchester game.”

Teenager Carl Winchester earned rave reviews for his mature performance alongside Tom Adeyemi in the engine room in the captain’s absence.

But with the games coming thick and fast in the next month, Dickov will be desperate to have Furman back on board, particularly with fellow midfielder James Wesolowski likely to be out of action for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, the Scot has praised chairman Simon Corney’s decision to slash admission prices for the next five home games.

The ‘Golden Ticket’ deal starts with tomorrow night’s clash with Colchester at Boundary Park (7.45pm kick-off).

Fans can see Athletic take on Colchester, Scunthorpe, Yeovil, Bournemouth and Leyton Orient for a grand total of £15, with Corney bidding to win back stay-away supporters and improve the matchday atmosphere.

So far Athletic have sold 1,100 ‘Golden Tickets’, and they expected to shift plenty more today and tomorrow.

Dickov added: “I think it is a great idea. We sat down the week before the announcement to discuss it because we knew after the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy defeat to Chesterfield that we needed to do something to attract more fans.

“We saw with the experiment against Carlisle last season, when admission was £2, that we can get plenty through the turnstiles.

“We know the fans will come to the next five home games and support us, so what we need to do is make sure we give them something to cheer.

“Hopefully we can get it started with a win and then it can snowball.”