Warriors of wisdom

Photo: Alan Howarth

SMILE...Goal scorer Ryan McLaughlin (right) gets a hug from Paul Green after extending Athletic's lead against Coventry.

PAUL Green has paid tribute to Athletic's experienced campaigners in pulling the team across the line, while also stating his desire to stay on at the club.

The former Republic of Ireland international midfielder has been an influential figure under John Sheridan and only Connor Ripley and Peter Clarke have made more appearances this season.

Hard-running Green has shown no signs of slowing down, either, with his form echoing the improvement under the new manager.

With 592 career appearances under his belt, the former Doncaster and Leeds player is one of the manager's most trusted performers along with fellow 30-somethings Clarke (658 appearances), Anthony Gerrard (449) and Brian Wilson (488).

"Young lads can get themselves down when they lose a game, but we try to keep up the morale in the changing room," said Green, who was brought to the club last summer, initially on trial, by Stephen Robinson.

"You work hard on the training ground and don't get down over one game. You aim to bounce back and the experienced players in there - myself, Peter Clarke, Brian Wilson and Anthony Gerrard - have been through a lot and in getting that experience across, hopefully it has helped.

"Clarkey has been amazing all season as a skipper. To finish it off like that, against the team where he had that bad incident, I am sure he enjoyed the moment."

INFLUENCE

Given his influence, Athletic are likely to waste little time in trying to negotiate a deal for Green, who is out of contract this summer, to stay at SportsDirect.com Park for a second season.

It's clear the player feels that with a solid set of players already committed for 2017-18, there is room for optimism.

"I would love to stay. Obviously, we didn't know if we would be safe or not and I don't know what the gaffer and the chairman have spoken about in regards to next year. But I am sure we will find that out soon," Green added.

"It was a fresh team at the start of this season. The gaffer has since brought in some good loan and permanent signings.

"Aaron Amadi-Holloway up front has given us a big, strong presence there and with the loan signings of Rob Hunt at left-back and Aiden O'Neill it gave us a bit of extra spark that we needed.

"Anthony Gerrard and Peter Clarke are a strong partnership and Ollie Banks has stood out as well.

"I think it's a strong nucleus to build from for next year.

"There have been some tough games and we have taken some good points from them. In a way, it's a great result against Rochdale in terms of not losing again - now we aim to carry that on into Wimbledon.

"I don't really like celebrating staying up. It's not really what I have done in my career, to be honest. But the gaffer has told us that to get from where we were to where we are now, it's a great achievement.

"Looking to next year, it will hopefully be a totally different story."