Kelly has licence to roam

FREEDOM . . . skipper Liam Kelly will be able to get forward with Richie Wellens taking the holding midfield role.

SKIPPER Liam Kelly is set to continue in an attack role as Athletic aim for a bumper festive points haul - starting with the trip to Blackpool on Boxing Day.

David Dunn said a look through captain Kelly’s records as a player at Kilmarnock helped persuade him to free his captain from his usual duties in front of the back four. Instead Richie Wellens took on that role at the Ricoh Arena, allowing Kelly to roam forward.

The plan worked, Athletic controlling most of the second half and finding a late equaliser against in-form Coventry.

Now, a player who netted 18 times in 113 games for Killie will be encouraged to add to his three goals to date for Athletic.

“Because of the energy Liam has, sometimes it is a bit of a waste in there,” said Dunn, referring to his holding midfield role. “Though he does that job really well, with his energy he wants to press high up the field. It worked pretty well at Coventry.

“I actually looked up all his stats the other week and spoke to him about it. At Kilmarnock, he scored quite a few goals and played a little higher up and it was something I have been thinking of for a while.

“Bringing Richie in, there was the chance to push him up a little bit.”

Kelly may revert back to his usual job for the home game with Doncaster on Monday — Wellens is ineligible for that fixture against his parent club.

“We will probably have to shuffle the pack a little bit,” said Dunn

“It is not that they couldn’t do it, but with the injury record of some of our players, we don’t want to lose them for six weeks.”

After Doncaster, the transfer window opens on January 1 and Dunn says players will need to leave before any newcomers arrive.

“I don’t really want to bring in any more players at this stage,” he said. “If we were to do that now, without getting rid of any, then you are probably looking at two training groups which sometimes isn’t ideal for team spirit.”