Kelly’s eyes on derby showdown

IMPRESSED: Liam Kelly gave the thumbs-up to Athletic’s first display under David Dunn

ATHLETIC skipper Liam Kelly was an impressed spectator on Saturday when he watched his rejigged team draw at Doncaster in David Dunn’s first match as manager.

Midfielder Kelly (25) has been out of action with a knee injury since a goalscoring appearance against Shrewsbury on August 22.

Kelly was generally enthused with a gutsy effort from his team-mates since Darren Kelly’s sacking.

Former Kilmarnock and Bristol City man Kelly said: “There was definitely a huge improvement on the previous weekend. I thought we looked a lot more solid and we didn’t concede too many chances, which is good.

“The gaffer had only been in his job for a week; already we’ve seen that improvement and now we need to keep building on that in the weeks to come.”

A positive away result helped to lift spirits in the Athletic camp. Kelly added: “There had to be changes following the Peterborough game to be honest (which Oldham lost 5-1).

“Confidence can be drained out of you as you go into the next game, but at Doncaster the lads who were out there ground out a good result.”

Kelly has handed his team-mates and new boss Dunn a boost this week by returning to training after a minor operation on his knee and a month on the sidelines.

“As long as everything goes okay in training this week I’ll hope to be in contention for Saturday,” added Kelly.