Step it up

Dominic Poleon

EXPECT to be picked on reputation alone, prepare to be disappointed.

That’s the message manager David Dunn has sent out to his inconsistent players ahead of the visit to Chesterfield, as he stresses the need to hit their straps every single week.

Dominic Poleon terrorised Gillingham a month ago, but has failed to find the same level since.

And he is not alone, said Dunn, as he pointed to Athletic’s record of having used 32 players in league and cup already this season.

Only Swindon (33) have fielded more in Sky Bet League One, while three of the four sides to have used the fewest players — Gillingham, Walsall and Burton — currently occupy the division’s top three places in the table.

“I want the Dominic that plays every single week for us as he did at Gillingham,” said Dunn, who will keep a close eye on the extent of Jay Fulton’s involvement with Scotland’s under-21s side tonight with a view to him playing at the Proact Stadium from the off tomorrow.

“I have spoken to him (Dominic) about that, so I’m not saying anything he hasn’t heard from me,”

KEY

“Consistency is key. We need to get 11 players who are getting good marks every week. This is not just Dom, it is across the board.

“You need to be able to trust your players — you can’t have them being very good one week and then dropping off it and being anonymous.

“I want to be able to keep my same 11 every week because they are doing so well I can’t drop them. That’s the ideal scenario, though it doesn’t always happen like that.

“To have those relationships building every week on the pitch does help.”

In planning to make further changes to his squad once the transfer window opens in seven weeks’ time, Dunn said he will be targeting bringing in the sort of player capable of playing and performing on a regular basis.

“We have used a lot of players this year,” added Dunn. “Is it down to recruitment? Are we buying players who only play 20 games a year, so you need to have a bigger squad?

“I have only been here as manager for nine weeks, so I am not sure. I don’t know what the recruitment was like before me.

“Certainly from now on, I would like to think any player we bring in permanently will be able to play at least 30 to 40 games a year. Then you can narrow your squad down.”

Though Athletic have failed to score in their last three outings — stretching back 273 minutes in total, since Danny Philliskirk’s late winner at Swindon — Dunn strongly believes that record will right itself.

“We didn’t score against Burton, but had 16 attempts on goal,” he said. “Three of those were in the six-yard box as free headers.

“It isn’t as if we are not creating chances. We have got to stick with it and I am certainly not worried.”

Lee Croft (ankle) misses out tomorrow, as does Mike Jones (ankle), with Cameron Dummigan away on international duty with Northern Ireland’s under-21s.

Giorgio Rasulo could start, while a lack of numbers could mean Dunn naming himself on the bench for the second game running.

Athletic (probable, 4-2-3-1): Coleman; Dieng, J Wilson, B Wilson, Mills; Kelly, Fulton; Winchester, Rasulo, Philliskirk; Fuller. Subs (from): Cornell, Eckersley, Vassell, Yeates, Byrnes, Dunn, Higdon, Poleon.