More of the same, please

Photo: PICTURE: ALAN HOWARTH.

INSTANT IMPACT: Lee Barnard has scored two goals in as many games since joining Athletic.

Loan striker plots another FA Cup shock
LEE Barnard has been trying to work out why Athletic are suffering in the league’s bottom four.

Life has been good from a personal point of view since his arrival at the club on a deadline-day loan deal from Southampton until the end of the season.

The former Tottenham and Southend striker (28) has scored in both his appearances to date.

They were strikes as clinical as any at this level.

But while the Romford sharp-shooter has lived up to expectations, he didn’t foresee his arrival

preceding the departure of Paul Dickov.

“I have come here simply to score as many goals as I can to help the team pick up the points we need to stay up.

“It has been a bit of a rollercoaster so far. I came in, got to know the boys and the ex-gaffer and it was all going well.

“We had a bad result at Walsall and it was a shame Paul stepped down. I was only with him for a couple of days, but I was looking forward to working with him.

“As a footballer, life goes on. You have to just keep training hard and not worry about what is going on off the pitch so much as on it. We haven’t been too distracted.”

Barnard will be involved in the Everton game on Saturday. He hopes the way Athletic disposed of a side as able as MK Dons can inject confidence ahead of the match.

“We were the better team and made them look average, which isn’t easy to do.

“I hadn’t seen the boys play too much before I came in but now, I can’t believe we are in the relegation zone.

“We are not getting carried away: we had one good performance and need to work hard to get another against Everton. But it’s the FA Cup: hopefully we can cause an upset.”