Lee weighs his options as defence suffers double hit

READY TO RETURN . . . Athletic defender Matteo Lanzoni.

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LEE Johnson is wary of upsetting his squad’s equilibrium by fetching in a new pair of players before the loan window closes on Thursday.

Athletic’s manager ideally wants two fresh faces — a left-sided defender and another winger — to bolster his options. Genseric Kusunga is banned for the next three games, left-back Joseph Mills has returned to Burnley after his 93-day loan and winger Cristian Montano is out with a knee injury.

The next chance to sign players doesn’t arrive until the new year.

Ahead of tonight’s clash at Shrewsbury, the Johnson says he prefers to give existing players the chance to impress. Tonight that probably means recalls for Matteo Lanzoni and David Mellor, in place of Kusunga and Mills. But further injuries at Greenhous Meadow may force the manager to dip into the loan market.

“We seem to go from flying to being a bit thin,” he said. “But I am conscious not to demoralise the group by bringing someone in. But tonight is massive and come tomorrow, my phone could be lighting up like the Batphone.”

Scholar Kyle Hardman is included in Athletic’s senior squad for the first time tonight.