High Court date

Lee Erwin goal celebration

ATHLETIC are facing a winding-up petition that has been brought by HM Revenue and Customs for the second time inside a year, but the club are expected to pay off the liability before the court date.

The latest petition was brought at the start of March over a sum owed thought to be around £20,000 and is due to be heard in the High Court on the morning of Monday, May 8.

The matter is likely to be settled in the coming days, but the news is an unwelcome distraction for a club fighting hard against relegation from Sky Bet League One.

Athletic faced a similar petition back in June of last year that was dismissed.

Last week, Athletic issued details of 'early bird' season tickets for 2017-18 offering the reduced adult price of £300 if bought before the end of the current month.

RECEIVED

On the pitch, the club's fight against the drop received a boost with a hard-fought point at Peterborough which brought with it knocks to centre-back Anthony Gerrard and striker Aaron Amadi-Holloway.

Amadi-Holloway looked to have overstretched and came off after 65 minutes with Tope Obadeyi taking his place and Gerrard limped off in the 82nd minute of the 1-1 draw to be replaced by Jamie Reckord.

"I think he has turned his foot," said manager John Sheridan of Gerrard's injury. "There are one or two with little knocks, but we will just have to assess them and see how they are."

Left-back Rob Hunt missed the game with a hamstring problem, but the on-loan Brighton player may be ready in time to return for Saturday's home game against the League One leaders.

"He had a scan on his hamstring and there is no tear, or if there is one it's very small," Sheridan said of Hunt. "He has a good chance of being available for Sheffield United."

The point gained at the weekend lifts Athletic one place in the table to 19th.

The game featured a terrific 11th-minute strike from Lee Erwin, a day ahead of his 22nd birthday, with the on-loan Leeds man making it four goals in as many appearances.

OVERALL

Sheridan, though, felt that Erwin and Amadi-Holloway were not as effective overall as they had been in the 2-1 win against Oxford four days earlier.

"It was a great ball and Lee was in a great position to give the defender a problem, peeling off towards the full-back," said Sheridan. "It was a great finish.

"But I felt my strikers didn't do what they did against Oxford. If I watch them on Tuesday they didn't look like the same pairing."

CONNOR Ripley has been named in the official Sky Bet League One team of the season.

Athletic's on-loan Middlesbrough goalkeeper has been in outstanding form this season, keeping 16 clean sheets in all competitions.

League One team of the season - Ripley (Athletic); McLaughlin (Fleetwood), Wheater (Bolton), Beevers (Bolton), Meredith (Bradford); Fleck (Sheff Utd), Oztumer (Walsall), Morris (Scunthorpe); Gregory (Millwall), Vaughan (Bury), Sharp (Sheff Utd).