Go for goals!

Peter Clarke

ATHLETIC fans have been assured that the team will not be lulled into a false sense of security by this season's superb defensive record.

Ever-present goalkeeper Connor Ripley and defensive linchpin Peter Clarke have helped keep the 'goals conceded' mark down to only 44 this season.

That's less than one per game, a record only bettered in Sky Bet League One by promotion contenders Bradford (42) and Fleetwood (43).

In terms of scoring, though, it has been a record fallow season for the club. It's a remarkable feat that John Sheridan's side have stayed up despite only hitting the net 31 times, with one match at AFC Wimbledon on Sunday (12.30pm kick-off) remaining.

It means that in order to tie level with the all-time lowest tally of 35 goals over a season, reached in both 1922-23 and 1924-25, Athletic need to score FOUR times at Kingsmeadow.

And Sheridan says that next season, he expects his team to be far more potent.

"I'd like us to score more goals. Defensively, being strong has probably kept us in this division," he said.

"When we score, knowing how strong we are defensively, it has given us the chance of winning the game as has been proven.

"I would like us to be more open but at the same time, if you are hard to beat then teams don't like to play you.

"You live off your strikers. We know that we need to score more goals to win games."

Chairman Simon Corney revealed that Athletic have 14 players so far who have agreed deals for next season.

That number includes players publicly known to have current contracts that run through 2017-18: Anthony Gerrard, Ryan Flynn, Ollie Banks, Aaron Amadi-Holloway, Cameron Dummigan, Ousmane Fane and Clarke.

OPTIONS
Brian Wilson, Chris Kettings, George Edmundson, Kallum Mantack, Jamie Stott, Ryan McLaughlin and Tope Obadeyi could all stay on, too, with those players thought to have options to remain.

That's a huge change from last season. Athletic's first day of pre-season training last summer featured only five senior contracted professionals.

When it comes to external targets to add to his squad, Sheridan won't make any excuses.

"While I'm a manager, you won't hear me mention the budget," he said.

"I don't say Sheffield United have won the title because they have the biggest budget. They have had the biggest budget for six or seven years, haven't they?

"They have a manager (Chris Wilder) who went in there and knows the division and who has got them out of it.

"Money can attract certain players. But you can work around it. I know what the budget will be around, so I work with that and get the best players I can from it.

"You need a manager who knows the division and what type of player you need. I don't go looking for players who I know will be asking for massive money. I would not waste their time or let them waste mine.

"Players I think we have a chance of getting are the ones I go for."

SHEFFIELD United are hoping to complete a deal to bring striker Ched Evans back to Bramall Lane.

The Chesterfield forward (28) is expected to have a medical with the Sky Bet League One champions this week.

The Blades refused to comment when contacted by Press Association Sport, but it is understood the club hope to complete a deal before the end of the season.

Evans was released by United in the summer of 2012 after he was found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman and sentenced to five years in prison.

That conviction was quashed and at a retrial last year, Evans was found not guilty.