Praise for braveheart Lockwood after battling win

caretaker boss Dean Holden gives Adam Lockwood a hug after Athletic’s 1-0 defeat of Port Vale. PICTURE by ALAN HOWARTH

DEAN Holden hailed the attitude of his deputy Adam Lockwood as Athletic produced a gutsy effort to claim victory at Port Vale last night.

Mike Jones’s superb free-kick three minutes before half-time and a strong rearguard effort brought back three points and lifted Athletic to 11th in the league, three points off the play-offs with a game in hand on sixth-placed Doncaster.

Ahead of a trip to Yeovil on Saturday, caretaker boss Holden was happy to put to bed the 4-0 loss to Preston on his managerial debut: “It was absolutely everything you could ask for,” Holden said of Lockwood, sent off in his previous Athletic start against Notts County last May, since hit by foot and knee injuries.

“We didn't expect him to get to 90 minutes. We thought he would get to 60 and come off.

“We kept shouting ‘are you ok?’. Then a little wink would come back that he was good to go.

“It shows what he is all about. He has had a career-threatening injury and he is prepared to throw himself on the line.

“It wasn’t just Locky, though, it was everyone. A lot has gone into the last couple of days behind the scenes and there has been a big push to get a performance. It came out in the arena for everyone to see.”

Holden will remain in charge at least for the trip to Yeovil, his chairman Simon Corney indicated in a radio interview this week.

Iain Dowie is now the bookmakers’ odds-on favourite to take the job and other names include Winston Bogarde and former Athletic forward Shefki Kuqi.