Ace in the hole

Giorgio Rasulo

Rasulo can be player to feed striker – Dunn

TEENAGER Giorgio Rasulo is one of a kind — and the budding talent could hold the key to unlocking Athletic’s attacking potential.

David Dunn brought in the 18-year-old England age-group international late last week on a youth loan from MK Dons.

That move came after discussions with those who know him best at Stadium MK, including Dunn’s ex-Blackburn midfield partner and his parent club’s current first-team coach, Keith Andrews.

With a full week of training under his belt with the rest of the squad, Rasulo could add to his debut as a substitute at Mansfield by playing a more substantial role a few miles up the road at Chesterfield this Saturday.

Athletic boss Dunn is looking to arrest a run of three straight outings without getting on the score sheet.

With Rasulo on board, the feeling is that for the first time under the manager’s charge Athletic have a player comfortable with prompting and probing from behind the main striker.

“Giorgio, even in the bits we have already seen from him, is probably a lot different from what we have already got,” Dunn said, ahead of the weekend visit to the Proact Stadium.

“He is a natural number 10 who plays in the hole just off the striker. We felt we needed someone in there to do that, if we wanted to change it a little bit.

“He is very well thought-of down at MK Dons and I spoke to Keith Andrews and (manager) Karl Robinson about him.

“They felt it would be good for his development to get some games with us. He is ready to go.” Rasulo is with the club until January 2.

While he is assured of at least a place in the squad for the visit to Derbyshire, along with skipper Liam Kelly who is back from suspension, the latest on Mike Jones (ankle) is that he is unlikely to be ready.

Cameron Dummigan is absent due to his involvement with Northern Ireland’s under-21s, who play France tonight in a UEFA under-21 Championship qualifier in Guingamp.

The on-loan Burnley right-back also misses the FA Cup first-round replay with Mansfield on Tuesday night when Northern Ireland are at home to Ukraine in Lurgan.

Midfielder Jay Fulton may play at some part against the Spireites, depending on how long he spends on the field for Scotland’s under-21s against Ukraine in Paisley tomorrow night (5.45pm kick-off).

And there is a doubt over Lee Croft, who was taken off at Field Mill.

Centre-back James Wilson (ankle) and goalkeeper David Cornell (hand), who both missed out at Mansfield, could return.

“We were getting to the point where we could do quite a bit of 11 versus 11 in training. In the last few weeks, we have gone back down to playing five-a-side,” added Dunn.

“It isn’t ideal when you are trying to work on different things. We are starting to get numbers back now and, hopefully, we can keep them fit.”