Back in the old routine

REUBEN Hazell, Neal Trotman, Kieran Lee and Paul Black must be wondering what they have done to deserve such a tough time when it comes to facing opposition strikers.

In the past two games, Athletic's back four has faced up to Swindon's Charlie Austin — a £1million-rated player described by manager Paul Dickov as the best front man in npower League One — and Rickie Lambert of Southampton, who plundered a monumental 37 goals last season and added one more at Boundary Park to take his tally to nine this campaign.

If there's no rest for the wicked, Dickov's defenders must have been very bad men indeed during the five-week enforced break due to bad weather.

It doesn't get any easier for them. Bradley Wright-Phillips produced one of the finest individual performances seen at Athletic's home this season when scoring for nine-man Plymouth in their 4-2 defeat in October.

The biological son of ex-Arsenal striker Ian Wright has 13 goals this season and looked set to ease the Pilgrims' perilous financial situation by finalising a six-figure move to Championship club Reading earlier this week.

But the deal floundered due to unspecified 'medical issues'. The news means that after two matches out while the deal was in the pipeline, the former Manchester City and Southampton player could well be back in the fray for Peter Reid's side to face Athletic at Home Park on Saturday.

The other main player for Plymouth in their gutsy display at Boundary Park has left for pastures new.

Winger Craig Noone, who grabbed the first goal for the visitors that day, is now a Brighton player following a fee believed to be around £300,000.

Reid cannot bring any fresh blood in at present due to a transfer embargo that has been placed on the club.

Former Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale is working on a consultancy basis with Plymouth in a bid to get things moving again and transfers out of the club will aid attempts to pay a £500,000 tax bill owed to HM Revenue and Customs.

As well as Noone, other players to have departed Home Park since Athletic last took on Argyle include centre-back Reda Johnson, who moved to League One rivals Sheffield Wednesday, and George Donnelly, who has joined Sean Gregan in signing for Blue Square Bet Premier club Fleetwood Town in a club-record £50,000 deal.

Argyle striker Rory Fallon, meanwhile, is currently on loan at Championship side Ipswich.

Despite the turmoil behind the scenes which saw Reid pay off the club's heating bill himself before Christmas, the team's form on the field has been reasonable.

Three of the last seven matches have brought about victories, including a 3-2 win at Bristol Rovers which preceded Wright-Phillips' withdrawal from the fray.