Pushed to the limit

ATHLETIC boss Lee Johnson will consider a trip to the South Coast if the club is unable to attract a sponsor for a pre-season foreign tour

ATHLETIC players could be pushed close to breaking point during the coming pre-season.

Manager Lee Johnson is considering sending them to an Army training camp to toughen up!
With no sponsor in place, a domestic rather than foreign mini-tour appears the likely option for a squad pre-season getaway.

While Paul Dickov last year dipped into his playing budget to pay for a week in Vilamoura, Johnson is reluctant to spend the equivalent of a player’s salary on such a tour.

If financial assistance for an overseas camp in the second week of July is not forthcoming, Johnson feels a forward march to the south coast for a couple of friendlies, a team-building exercise such as white-water rafting and some intense activity at an Army training facility could do the trick.

“I think a visit to an Army training facility for a couple of days might be beneficial,” said Johnson. “I feel some of the players don’t know where their ‘100 per cent’ mark is as they have never been there.”

Athletic currently have two friendlies planned for pre-season: Accrington Stanley on July 23 and Huddersfield Town on July 27.

Johnson is meanwhile hopeful of finalising a move for a mystery midfielder in the next couple of days.

So far, Jonson Clarke-Harris and James Dayton have made moves to Boundary Park, from Peterborough and Kilmarnock respectively.

ATHLETIC have officially confirmed that Matt Smith will not be signing a new deal, as exclusively revealed in the Chronicle on Tuesday.
The striker will move on after two years at Boundary Park, with a Championship club his likely destination.