Bring it on!

DESPITE operating as manager, trainer and chief scout, Athletic manager Paul Dickov will wait until next week before concentrating on bringing in a new assistant.

Ahead of tonight’s game at Notts County — which passed a lunchtime inspection of the pitch — Dickov said he will wait until after the FA Cup game against Liverpool on Sunday before making a decision on a new number two.

“We will probably get this week out of the way then talk about it,” Dickov said of the assistant’s role.

“You have to muck in. You don’t get anywhere in life without working hard. The one thing we are all doing is clubbing together.”

He also revealed he is still hoping to lure Matt Derbyshire back to Oldham - and for the moment is content to wait.

“It is down to Forest at the moment and what they are going to do with him,” he added.

“They are reluctant to let him back out on loan in case there is anything permanent for him.

“But that doesn’t mean we aren’t still in for him.”

One player who is definitely back in contention for Athletic is James Wesolowski.

The midfield man has served his three-game ban picked up for a dismissal at Scunthorpe on New Year’s Day and is primed to step straight back into what is currently a makeshift midfield.



PREMIER League referee Lee Probert has been named as the man in charge for Sunday’s FA Cup fourth round tie at home to Liverpool.