Only your best will do - manager

DAVID DUNN . . . the Athletic boss is keeping his players’ feet on the ground after the midweek win at Swindon.

ATHLETIC boss David Dunn is relishing the chance to get his teeth into a local derby.

The manager is asking his players to prove their worth against the side managed by his former club-mate.

Saluting a “great job” at Rochdale by manager Keith Hill — a defender at Blackburn when Dunn was in the junior ranks — Dunn wants his men to keep up the work rate of their last two games.

Still unbeaten away, Athletic have lost one of their last six outings and the digging in for a point with 10 men against Sheffield United was followed up by victory at Swindon in midweek.

Three points at Spotland tomorrow will pull Athletic to within a point of their derby rivals.

“I have a lot of respect for Keith Hill and he has a lot of experience at the lower league level,” said Dunn. “He’s done a really good job there. He has got some good players as well, so we will have to be at our best.

“The atmosphere is always intense and I’m sure both sets of fans will be very nervous. I shouldn’t have to do too much motivating ahead of the game. Local derbies are fantastic for everyone; players should want to prove to local fans what good footballers they are and what it means to them.”

Dunn, who welcomes back defender Jonathan Burn after suspension, doesn’t want his players to think they have cracked it.

“I don’t want to get too carried away with the last couple of performances, as I was quite pleased before the Scunthorpe game and we know what happened there,” he added, referring to the 4-2 defeat at home earlier this month.

Dunn praised the impact of midfield man Carl Winchester earlier this week: “In the last couple of matches arguably one of our best players has been Carl; he got his chance because of the way he trained.”



SUPPORTERS have until 5pm today to get tickets for the derby at Spotland. The game is all-ticket, with no tickets sold on the day.