Latics boss seeking cover for Grounds

Jonathon Grounds

ATHLETIC manager Lee Johnson is racing against time to pin down a further arrival before the loan window shuts at 5pm tomorrow, with left-back the priority area.

First-choice Jonathan Grounds is close to a two-match ban and Johnson is fearful that there is currently no natural replacement within his squad.

Athletic are up to five loan men in the squad already, the maximum number than can be fielded on a match day.

Latest signing Bobby Reid, who has joined on a youth loan from Bristol City, put in a bright show for an hour during the reserves’ 0-0 home draw with Hull yesterday, a game watched by his new boss.

“I have been looking to possibly bring one in, but I don’t know if it is going to happen now, just through timescales,” said Johnson, who takes his team to Swindon on Good Friday for the second game of his tenure.

“The left-back scenario is a little bit of a worry. Jonathan Grounds is on eight bookings and if he goes down, we haven’t really got a natural left-back (to replace him).

“We have to wrap him up in cotton wool. I don’t want to bring someone in for the sake of it, as it is important to the group that the people we are bringing in are the right ones.

“We want to create this atmosphere where everyone is on their toes and being pushed for their place.”

On-trial Ben Parker played the full match and was a steadying presence at left-back.

But at this stage Johnson isn’t about to snap up the 25-year-old former Leeds player, who hasn’t appeared in a first-team match this season following his Elland Road release.

“He has good pedigree and you can tell he is good on the ball,” Johnson said of the once highly-rated England youth international. “But obviously he hasn’t been playing for a while.

“He is one not quite for now, but to keep an eye on for the future.”

The main blot on the landscape in the Hull game at Chapel Road was the red card for Carl Winchester late on for directing foul and abusivee language towards the referee.

The two-match ban he serves won’t count for first-team games, though, unless the official deems the circumstances to be exceptional in his report.
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