Waiting game for Trotman

SHOVEL TO IT . . . groundstaff clear the covers at Boundary Park and heads groundsman Lee Williams blows away the snow in the hope of getting the pitch fit for Boxing Day. PICTURES by DARREN ROBINSON

UNLUCKY Neal Trot-man is like a spare part at Athletic at the moment — but boss Paul Dickov is keen to keep hold of the Preston man to give him the opportunity to showcase what he can do.

The 23-year-old is still awaiting his second ‘debut’ for the club after joining on loan from the Championship outfit a month ago.

Training on hard surfaces is difficult for Trotman, who will stay with the club until at least after the Rochdale derby on Monday, January 3.

If Dickov has anything to do with it, the centre-back will stick around for a period after that as well.

And the same is true for Athletic’s other loan stars, the wing pair of Arsenal’s Cedric Evina and Leeds United’s Aidan White.

“It is a ridiculous situation,” said Dickov.

“We brought Neal in because he is a player we like. We tried to get him in the summer when I took the job but that didn’t happen.

“Now with all these postponements due to the weather, it just hasn’t happened for him.

“With Neal as well, he hasn’t been able to train a lot. He has had problems with his knees before and so going out on the hard surfaces isn’t going to benefit him.

“So to say we haven’t seen the best of him is an understatement.

“With Neal, Aidy (White) and Cedric (Evina) we will sit down in the next week or so to speak to the respective clubs and hopefully keep them here.

“As well as being great lads and all integrating well into the group, they are all very good players as well.

“We want to keep our best players.”

Dickov is also confident of keeping hold of long-term loan pair Oumare Tounkara and Jean-Yves Mvoto for the season.

“We are hopeful that (Sunderland manager) Steve Bruce will let us keep them because they are doing ever so well for us,” he added.

“They are progressing as footballers and learning all the time.

“We feel them being here will make them better players.

“We are very hopeful they will be here until May.”

Sean Gregan, Rob Purdie, Jon Worthington, Deane Smalley and Joe Jacobson are all currently at other clubs on loan.

Should those deals be extended in early 2011, it may help with efforts to bring in fresh faces for a busy period of football.

“If we can keep the players out on loan, that might give us a chance to get one or two in.

“If not, we are sitting in a great position. The lads that are here have done fantastically well and I have faith in every single one of them.

“If we can bring in one or two in who will better the squad significantly, then I will try to do so.”