Ban threats hang over Latics trio

THREE Athletic players are walking disciplinary tightropes as bans threaten to disrupt manager Paul Dickov's settled line-up.

Jonathan Grounds' booking in the Bury defeat this week took him to four yellow cards for the season — the same number as midfield duo James Wesolowski and Dean Furman.

One more yellow for any of those players before the end of the December will trigger an automatic one-match suspension.

Grounds has been an ever-present at left-back in Athletic's 18 games so far this season and there is no obvious deputy within the current first-team squad.