Simpson repays manager’s faith

LEADING FROM THE FRONT: new Athletic skipper Robbie Simpson turns on the style against Yeovil.

ROBBIE Simpson has become a real midfield general for Athletic.

The new skipper has quickly settled into the role given him bymanager Lee Johnson, who calls him “the sort of player designed for a relegation battle”.

"Robbie has bought into what I have tried to do," said Johnson.

"You would take him in the trenches with you. That's why I felt he was the right man to be captain.

"We didn't need a flair player as captain. We needed a soldier.

“Simmo was the natural choice. He is very willing. You see that in his game.

"It is about getting the right quality with the aggression. When he gets that spot-on, he is unplayable."

The respect is reciprocated by Simpson, who hailed as "brilliant" the work done by Johnson to steer the club to the brink of safety.

The Chronicle columnist has had an up-and-down season.

The highlight was a two-goal salvo which earned Athletic a memorable victory at Nottingham Forest in the third round of the FA Cup; the lows have come in patchy form, with a pelvic injury severely hampering his movement.

"When the manager first came in, he pulled me to one side and asked me to provide aggression on the pitch without it boiling over," said Simpson, who enjoyed one of his best performances in the victory over Yeovil in midweek.

"He (Johnson) has been brilliant since he came in, especially to me. He has asked me to play in a number of different roles and I am happy to do it to help the team out.

"He has made me captain while James Wesolowski is out of the team and Cliff Byrne is injured as well.

"It is an absolute honour.”

Simpson is keen to win tomorrow to kill off Scunthorpe's hopes of league survival.

“We have got to do the business. If we can do it tomorrow (against Crawley at Boundary Park), then the pressure is off and we can really enjoy our football."