Derby duel decider

Aaron Amadi-Holloway

TWO MASSIVE games loom over the coming weekend, but nothing will ultimately be decided until the derby clash with Rochdale next week.

That is the view of John Sheridan, ahead of tomorrow's Bolton clash (12.30pm kick-off) and follow-up fixture at Bristol Rovers on Easter Monday (3pm).

Depending on other results, a six-point weekend might ensure a 21st straight season in League One.

But with teams near the bottom so compacted, even maximum points across Easter may not be enough to guarantee the club's status.

"I believe we will still be playing to the Rochdale game and that's how I have looked at it for a long time," said Sheridan, who would have been buoyed by Bury's 1-0 defeat at home to Rochdale last night.

"I know who plays who. Mathematically, if we win and the other teams around us lose, we can still be caught.

"It will probably go to two games from the end of the season."

Sheridan, who is hopeful Aaron Amadi-Holloway (hamstring) will be fit enough to feature in the next two matches, will travel with the squad to Bristol on Sunday afternoon and at this stage, has no set-in-stone idea on how his second line-up in three days will look.

"We are travelling down at around 4pm or 5pm on Sunday," he said. "I will look at the players and see how they are.

"I know what they are like - if we win, they will all want to play on Monday.

"I will make the decisions I need to if I need to freshen it up. But I will just see how the game goes and what the result is and take it from there."

As for the Bolton test tomorrow at what will be a packed SportsDirect.com Park, Sheridan said he is not overly concerned about the set-piece threat of a team whose centre-backs David Wheater and Mark Beevers have scored 14 league goals between them this season.

"We know about that," Sheridan said. "But I'm more worried about us. The players know about it and we will work on it, like we always do.

"But if we play like we did last week, then we have got a great chance of winning the game. That's all I look at.

"Bolton are strong and are up there for a reason. But I like to be positive and think about us. It's important for us to get three points."

On-loan Bolton winger Chris Taylor is ineligible for tomorrow's game, while Cameron Dummigan (hamstring) is still injured.

Athletic (probable, 3-5-2): Ripley; Wilson, Clarke, Gerrard; Law, Green, Fane, Banks, McLaughlin; Erwin, Obadeyi. Subs (from): Kettings, Stott, Edmundson, Reckord, Mantack, O'Neill, Flynn, Croft, Amadi-Holloway, Ngoo, Osei.

MASON Fawns is the only Athletic scholar to be offered professional terms for next season.

The ex-Blackburn striker will be joined by injury-hit midfielder Ryan Leonard in pre-season. He has been offered his chance to prove his worth in first-team training before a decision is made.

ATHLETIC are offering refunds to fans who feel short-changed about the score board not coming to fruition.

The club have instead used the new LED perimeter boards to show the score. The original campaign, run in conjunction with Tifosy and with Trust Oldham later pledging its support, was halted as the revised target of £27,000 was hit.

The plan had been to install a colour score board similar to that at Bury.

But Athletic said in a statement: " The true cost of a worthwhile scoreboard, capable of graphics that would allow extra revenue streams brought into the club and the subsequent fabrication and installation of such a scoreboard, far exceeded the funds raised."

Athletic say that fans who "feel that their donations were not being used in accordance with their original wish" can reclaim their donations during a three-day window next week: From Wednesday, April 19 (from 9am) up to Friday, April 21 (at 5pm).