More of the same, please

JONATHAN Grounds has warned his team-mates not to expect an easy ride at Shrewsbury tomorrow as Athletic hunt down a fourth straight victory.

Restored to the team at Gillingham after serving a one-match ban, the reliable Grounds was every bit as solid as his manager warned he would need to be in preserving a clean sheet.

The challenge for Athletic is to gain three more points at Greenhous Meadow, which could potentially lift the club to 13th in the table.

“We have had a couple of good results in cup games in the last couple of weeks and it was important to go to Gillingham and get three points,” said Grounds. “Hopefully, we can kick on from here and get another result at Shrewsbury. We can’t expect anything like the game we had last time. We can’t take anything for granted.”

Athletic won 4-1 at Shrewsbury in the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy earlier this season and will leapfrog their rivals in the standings by winning tomorrow.

As for the hard-won Gills game, Grounds said the aerial battle he and fellow defenders Genseric Kusunga, James Tarkowski and Joseph Mills faced was expected.

“They have got some big players up front,” he added. “Gillingham will beat a lot of teams at home with their long throws and set pieces. I imagine they get a lot of goals from that.”

Mills played his last game on loan before heading back to parent club Burnley and stated his desire to try to break into their first team, telling the club website on his prospects for a return to Boundary Park early next year: “I will speak to the manager (Sean Dyche) and then in January reassess the situation.”

Saturday’s match-winner at Gillingham, Mike Petrasso, is with Athletic on a one-month youth loan from Championship side QPR.