Clarke in call to maintain Latics momentum

Peter Clarke

INFLUENTIAL Athletic skipper Peter Clarke and his confident team-mates fully intend to carry the club's impressive recent momentum into the new season.

Clarke (35) was a major player last term, playing in every single Sky Bet League One game for Athletic and proving inspirational in a side which was rejuvenated after John Sheridan replaced Stephen Robinson as manager in January.

ASSURED

At that point Athletic fans had endured a miserable Christmas as their club looked doomed to relegation, but Clarke and his battlers rallied superbly under Sheridan as safety was assured before the final game of the 2016-17 season at AFC Wimbledon.

The thrilling charge out of the drop zone has brought the buzz back among fans, and Clarke - Athletic's players' player and fans' player of the year last term - also feels a much more productive 2017-18 campaign could be on the cards.

Asked about Athletic's potential prospects for next season, Clarke said: "Without a shadow of a doubt we're optimistic.

"I spoke to the manager when he came in in January, and in early February, and he outlined then what he was hoping and intending to do.

"The first part was securing our position in League One of course, and to do that with a game to spare from the position we were in when he came, that was testament to the lads in the dressing room and to the manager.

"That was part one of the job - part two will soon start in earnest.

"The manager will spend the summer making preparations, and then he'll put his ideas and his message across when we return to pre-season training.

"You can't look too far ahead, but I really believe now that having down part one of the job I mentioned, the club is in a good place from where we can build, move forwards and make good progress.

"It'll take a lot of hard work, but the graft and determination that went in between January and the end of the season, we're going to need that all over again, and probably a bit more if we want to be successful."

The fixtures for the new 2017-18 Sky Bet League One season are announced on Wednesday, June 21.