Latics looking up, not down

MIDFIELDER Paul Green

PAUL Green says Athletic's sights are trained up rather than down the table.

And the experienced midfielder is targeting back-to-back victories over the course of five days in order to hand a massive boost to the chances of avoiding relegation.

Tonight's game at Northampton has Athletic facing a team they could have seen off early in the campaign, when the Cobblers earned a 0-0 draw which took their unbeaten run to 27 matches.

That sequence has long-since ended and rather than looking at the play-offs, Justin Edinburgh's men are having to concern themselves with trying to avoid being drawn into the Sky Bet League One relegation dogfight.

WINNING

Green knows the value not only of winning at Sixfields tonight, but also then following up on home soil against Walsall on Saturday.

"The start of the season wasn't great for us, but we have started picking up points and we are now looking at teams above us rather than below us," said midfield man Green.

"Northampton and Walsall are two good games for us. They are 100-per-cent winnable for us and we are looking to get six points out of them to put us really in the mix.

"We will be ready for Northampton. We played them at home and we were unlucky not to beat them even though they came with the confidence of having won League Two.

"We are clawing other teams back into it and these two games are big for us. Win them both and we could go as high as 14th, as quickly as that."

While emphasising the unpredictability of the division ahead of tonight's full programme of fixtures in League One, Athletic boss John Sheridan admits to an interest elsewhere on a night when Swindon (22nd) host Gillingham (17th) and Coventry (24th) go to Bury (19th).

"If teams around us draw and we win, then we pick up two points on them," the manager said. "I am always looking at what I want, but it doesn't always work out like that.

"I didn't think Gillingham would beat Southend, or that Bury would win at Charlton - but they did.

"A lot of teams are fighting to stay in this division and will make life tough for whoever they play."

TONIGHT'S fixtures in Sky Bet League One: Bradford v MK Dons; Bury v Coventry; Millwall v Peterborough; Northampton v ATHLETIC; Rochdale v Port Vale; Scunthorpe v AFC Wimbledon; Shrewsbury v Charlton; Swindon v Gillingham; Walsall v Chesterfield; Bolton v Bristol Rovers.