Dickov happy to give youngsters a chance

IN keeping with tradition, Athletic fans wore fancy dress for the team’s final away game of the season. Superheroes, cartoon characters and even pontiffs turned up at Gigg Lane to cheer on the Latics.

ATHLETIC boss Paul Dickov felt his side were better than derby-day opponents Bury in the 0-0 draw at Gigg Lane.

Dickov said: "I am never happy with one point, but I am glad we kept a clean sheet.

"After a shaky start our centre halves were solid and dealt with everything, which was good to see.

"A positive aspect was the fact we were able to give some match time to some of the younger players like Carl Winchester, Kirk Millar and Connor Hughes.

"We had a young side out there and the lads will have benefited from it.

"It is a shame we couldn't bring them in sooner, but over the last few weeks we have been scrapping for points and it wouldn't have been the correct time to call on them."

The match was overshadowed by a nasty-looking injury to midfielder Youssouf Mchangama, who was knocked out following an off-the-ball incident in the second period.

Dickov added: "It was a bad head injury, Youssouf has a huge lump and went to hospital for a scan.

"The referee should have stopped play sooner. But the main thing is that Youssouf recovers quickly."

Dickov also reserved special praise for Athletic's fancy dress-clad following at Gigg Lane.

He said: "They were fantastic and turned out in their numbers as usual. In my two seasons at the club our fans have been second to none and they never cease to impress me.”



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