Dickov’s vote of confidence in skipper

Dean Furman: back in the squad soon

DEAN Furman has not wavered during his period of frustration on the substitutes' bench.

Athletic's captain travels to South Africa following the Tranmere game for the home friendly international against Zambia in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

While the midfielder is firmly in favour with his national coach Gordon Igesund, his first-team chances in club football have been limited.

Furman has only started one of Athletic's last six matches — the 3-1 defeat at Carlisle.

But club boss Paul Dickov guarantees the situation will change soon.

"Dean will play a lot of games for us. He is my captain and I had a long chat with him last week," Dickov said.

"When you are out of the team, sometimes you can over-think things and believe you are being treated differently.

"But to Dean's credit, in training and on a match day his attitude has been fantastic.

"It won't be long before he is back in the team as captain."