Latics eyes on prizes

John Sheridan

ATHLETIC’S surge to safety has been recognised with TWO nominations in the monthly stakes.

Manager John Sheridan has been short-listed for the Sky Bet League One manager of the month award for April, after guiding his side out of the bottom-four for the first time in five months at the most crucial stage of the campaign.

And striker Curtis Main, who struck four crucial goals to aid the effort substantially, is up for the player of the month.

Main netted the only goal of the game in victories over Walsall and Southend, also scoring in the 2-0 win against Swindon and in the 2-1 loss at Barnsley.

The winners will be announced on Friday.

Four victories arrived for Athletic in a busy month — at home to Swindon, Walsall and Crewe and away at Southend — as a 13-point haul banished relegation fears prior to the 3-0 defeat at play-off contenders Millwall.

Sheridan’s citation reads: “Need a miracle worker? Call Sheridan. After reviving Newport’s League Two fortunes in the autumn, he guided Oldham to safety in League One. Thirteen points from seven games with the aid of four clean sheets completed the task.”

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The other managers on the list are all still attempting to get their respective clubs into the Championship.

Scunthorpe’s Graham Alexander, Gary Caldwell of Wigan and Bradford boss Phil Parkinson are vying with Sheridan for the managerial prize.

Alexander would appear to be favourite to get the nod, after seeing off Burton on the way to five straight wins which have taken the Glanford Park club from mid-table to the fringe of the top-six ahead of a final-day clash at Sheffield United.

On the player front, on-loan Doncaster star Main has competition from Will Grigg of Wigan, Scunthorpe’s Luke Williams and Byron Webster of Millwall.

Grigg hit seven goals in six outings to help seal Wigan’s promotion back to the Championship, including doubles against Shrewsbury and Southend.

Centre-back Webster proved effective at both ends of the pitch — his three goals from set-pieces included two against Athletic — while winger Williams scored three times to help inspire Scunthorpe’s unlikely promotion push.

Meanwhile, Sheridan is aiming to shake off the disappointment of the Millwall loss in order to end the campaign on a high at home to Coventry on Sunday (12.30pm kick-off).

“I wanted to get six points from the last two games and finish as high as we could in the division,” said Sheridan.

“I now want us to win at home in front of our fans and finish the season with a win.”