Dig that says happy Lee!

Jordan Bove receives an unwanted birthday present - a red card!

ATHLETIC boss Lee Johnson saluted the character of his young team after they came from behind to crush Notts County 5-1 in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern quarter-final at Boundary Park.

There was late drama when debutant Jordan Bove was sent off within three minutes of coming on as a substitute — on his 18th birthday as well — but that failed to dampen spirits now that a potential dream Wembley final is just three games away.

After watching goals fly in from Danny Philliskirk (two), James Tarkowski, James Dayton and the tireless Jonson Clarke-Harris, Johnson said: “I thought we started the game well, then we got a bit too comfortable.

“Our balance was slightly off and we kept losing the ball, which was disappointing, but once we scored I thought we were dominant.

“There were lots of positives to focus on, and lots of goals.

“I was pleased for Jonson (Clarke-Harris) to get his goal. He was brave getting into scoring areas.

“But what I particularly enjoyed was the fact that our efforts were controlled — we weren’t just blazing it.

“I’ve been watching Manchester City and Barcelona. They shape up to shoot and then when everybody spreads they just lay it off to someone who shoots.

“We scored two or three like that so I was really pleased.

“You have to be relentless, too, and keep the hammer down when you’re on top, but there was good character as well.

“There was a point when the fans were getting frustrated and sometimes the lads can go into their shells in that situation.

“But they didn’t last night, although I’d like a big win in the league.”

The draw for the Northern and Southern semi-finals take place on Saturday morning.

Asked who he would prefer — Chesterfield and Rotherham have also won through while Fleetwood and Carlisle play each tonight — Johnson quipped: “We’ll have another tear-up with Rotherham eh?”

Meanwhile, Johnson revealed that he has had MK Dons opposite number Karl Robinson on the phone upset that this weekend’s scheduled Sky Bet League One clash had been postponed at Athletic’s request.

The Football League agreed to the cancellation due to under-21 international call-ups for Carl Winchester, Kirk Millar and Edijs Joksts.

“We are quite thin on the ground so I am glad we’re not playing at the weekend to be honest,” confirmed the Athletic boss.

“I had a call from Karl Robinson slaughtering me for cancelling Saturday’s game because he was saying we had 30-odd players, but actually we haven’t.

“He calmed down and he was okay in the end — I just explained the situation.

“The fact is we’ve got three internationals away, players that would have been in the squad, and we’re not big enough to deal with that, especially when you’re asked to play Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday.

“It’s one of those situations where you have to really think about it.

“MK Dons would come here and be fresh having not had a midweek game.

“They’re a good side, while we wouldn’t be fully at it, pressing wise.

“It would have been a third game in a week which would make it particularly hard, especially when you remember we’ve got another FA Cup game at Wolves next Tuesday.

“This gives us chance to get Charlie MacDonald back, Matteo Lanzoni maybe and Connor Brown has another week, so when you're facing a really intense run of games, you do need your whole squad.”