Boss’s cry to get smart

FOOD FOR THOUGHT . . . manager Lee Johnson and first-team coach Paul Murray look on as Athletic strive to find a way through the Derby County back line.

ATHLETIC manager Lee Johnson wants his team to continue to smarten up their play and pass the ball.

In last night’s 1-0 defeat by Derby in the first round of the Capital One Cup, Athletic excelled in an up-tempo show in the first half before being squeezed out by the Rams after the break.

With Jonson Clarke-Harris picking up an ankle injury which will keep him out of the Walsall game at Boundary Park on Saturday, the manager wasn’t entirely happy, despite the positive aspects of the match.

He is keen his side doesn’t over-play when the conditions demand a different approach: “We don’t want to pretend to be Barcelona when we’re not,” said Johnson.

“They (Derby) were up for it as well. They didn’t turn up thinking they could swan about. They sent someone to Stevenage and they have a big analysis team which they spend a lot of money on.

“Over 90 minutes they edged us, but we are a young side and we are only going to get better.”

Athletic faded after Clarke-Harris’s departure and Johnson admitted his replacements didn’t work out as intended.

“I was a bit disappointed with the substitutes as I didn’t think they affected the game enough,” he added. “I wanted a bit of energy and they didn’t really provide that.

“There were so many good bits about the game but for me it was all in the first half.”

While many Athletic fans are hoping to see a new centre-back, Johnson emphasised the good work currently being done by a back four.

“I am happy with the group I’ve got in,” he said. “They are very willing and very honest and everything I said after the game they agreed with. We move on. Derby are a very good side so we certainly haven’t disgraced ourselves.”
mattchambers@oldham-chronicle.co.uk