Boss expects top-half finish

ATHLETIC manager Paul Dickov is targeting a quick response to the setback of a pair of home defeats in a week.

Like Scunthorpe four days before them, Yeovil came away from Boundary Park thankful for all three points on Saturday as a combination of poor finishing and lax defending did for Dickov’s men.

A game at Stevenage tomorrow kicks off a sequence of three away-days in a row, with a derby at Rochdale at the weekend and a trip to Hartlepool in store in eight days’ time.

“We have three tough away games, but that is what it is all about,” Dickov said. “Let’s bring them on.

“We have shown before that we can bounce back against good teams.

“Recently, we have shown that of we can put a run together of a few wins and draws, you can shoot right back up the table.

“I still want to finish in the top half and I believe we are good enough do that.

“To get there, we have to start being a bit more ruthless in front of goal and when we are not, we have to make sure we don’t concede.”

Athletic hope to have Tom Adeyemi on board for tomorrow’s fixture at the Lamex Stadium. The 20-year-old’s loan deal from Norwich City has expired, but the club have been working hard to extend it up until the end of the season.

“We are hoping that something is going to get sorted out,” said Dickov, who has suffered a blow with the news that midfielder Keanu Marsh-Brown has been hit with an FA charge.

The winger, sent off against Scunthorpe for a two-footed tackle, is already serving a three-game ban. That may be increased at a hearing on Wednesday where he answers a misconduct rap, related to the brawl that followed his tackle.

Dickov said that Jean-Yves Mvoto missed out on selection in favour of scorer Zander Diamond as a result of a tight hamstring.