Defeat not an option

WORRIED MAN: Simon Corney is hoping his manager can spark a revival.

ATHLETIC must pick up a result at Walsall, chairman Simon Corney has warned.

After the shock win over Liverpool, manager Paul Dickov remains under pressure to halt the club’s run of league failures — only one point has been won since early December.

The recovery process starts at the Banks's Stadium on Saturday — scene of four successive victories for the in-form Saddlers.

"It is a game we can’t afford to lose," said Corney. "We have to arrest the decline."

Athletic are 19th in the league, one point clear of the bottom four — but all those clubs have a game in hand.

Corney restated that manager Paul Dickov’s position remains the same: dictated by results.

""Nothing has changed,” he said. "I haven’t said anything I haven't already said to Paul and he understands the situation.

"We need points. Everyonewho knows about football knows what the score is — and I am a little fed up of answering the same questions. We don’t want to make changes, but we can’t afford to keep losing.”

After bringing in cup-tied Paul Murray for a second spell at Boundary Park, Corney said Dickov is on the hunt for further signings eligible for the FA Cup fifth-round tie against Everton.

“The manager knows he can bring in a couple,” he added. “But finding the right players isn't easy — especially those who aren’t cup-tied.”