Kuqi and Co. can make dream a reality

SHEFKI KUQI: fired up to help Latics reach the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Manager backs his hit men to put Wembley in reach
ATHLETIC refocus their sights on the visit to Chesterfield tonight, with manager Paul Dickov backing his attacking players to breach a newly-strengthened home defence.

Ex-Stockport defender Josh Thompson, who had a spell on loan at Rochdale last term, has signed for John Sheridan's men on a season-long loan from Celtic and is set to come straight into the line-up for this first leg of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy northern final.

The tie is set to take place tonight (7.45pm kick-off) after yesterday falling foul to a frozen pitch.

"We want to go there and put ourselves in a good position to come back here to Boundary Park," said Dickov, who welcomes back on-loan Robbie Simpson after the striker missed out at Huddersfield due to not being eligible to play against his parent club.

"It is a first for me, a two-legged tie, but we will set up the same way looking to win the game.

"We have players in the team who can score goals — Shefki (Kuqi), Robbie (Simpson), Filipe Morais, Chris Taylor, Josh Parker, Luca (Scapuzzi).

"There are options and Matt Smith did ever so well the last time we went there."

Bottom-of-the-table Chesterfield are struggling in npower League One, without a win since a 4-1 defeat of Carlisle in mid-September and seven points behind the safety zone.

Spireites manager Sheridan and his assistant Tommy Wright tonight pit their wits against their former club in a bid to lift the mood at the B2net Stadium.

"If you've got a chance to get to Wembley I don't think it's a game getting in the way," Wright told BBC Radio Sheffield.

"You don't get a chance to play in a cup final at Wembley very often."

The second-leg tie between the clubs, who are battling for the right to meet either Barnet or Swindon at Wembley on Sunday, March 25, takes place at Boundary Park on Monday, January 30.

Athletic (probable): Cisak; Adeyemi, Mvoto, Diamond, Lee; Taylor, Wesolowski, Furman, Scapuzzi; Simpson, Kuqi.

n REUBEN Reid was in action this afternoon as a young reserves side travelled to Macclesfield for a Central League, West Division fixture.

Striker Reid has missed three months of the season with a thigh injury. Ryan Brooke missed out due to a hip injury.

Reserves: Connor, Fitzgerald, Edwards, Cooper, Parkes, Burns, Bembo, Millar, Reid, Laird, Hughes. Subs: Bell, Simpson, McIntosh, Poxon.



KEEP up with the action from Chesterfield on Twitter tonight by following @matt_chambers_