Homework key to new system

RIGHT-HAND MAN . . . Ian Baraclough can't wait for Millwall on Saturday

ATHLETIC could benefit from the scrapping of the emergency loan window.

This season is the first in the EFL with no month-long loan deals allowed.

For boss Stephen Robinson's right-hand man Ian Baraclough, that could help Athletic. No longer can borrowed players who perform well be whisked back to their parent clubs at the drop of a hat.

While Athletic's new-look squad has been assembled at breakneck pace, plentiful research has been put in to the four loan players brought in so far: Connor Ripley, Lee Erwin, Billy Mckay and Cameron Burgess.

None of that quartet can be recalled before the January window opens.

And with such vast know-how within a back room staff that includes Sean O'Driscoll and chief scout Lee Turnbull, as well as Baraclough and Robinson, you would not back against those four players proving to be successes at Sky Bet League One level.

'TIGHT BUDGET'

"We have a tight budget so you have to have done your homework on players," said Baraclough (45), who worked as manager at Motherwell when Robinson was his number two.

"You know they can't go back after a month - they are here for six months - and it can work both ways.

"In the past, you may have got a player for a month initially who does well and his parent club takes him back and you are back to square one.

"If you have someone for six months and you know he is the right character, you know you have him until at least January."

After leaving Motherwell midway through last season, ex-Scunthorpe and Sligo Rovers boss Baraclough worked as a scout at Doncaster.

He says there is no tension at all in working under Robinson, as opposed to their reversed roles in Scotland.

"To me, it doesn't matter," he said. "You bang ideas together, you talk about a lot of things and you know how each other works.

"It has been a good combination and hopefully, we can take that in to this job."

Baraclough's enthusiasm for the role is clear and he admits he can't wait for the opener against Millwall on Saturday.

"It all ramps up now," he said. "There is excitement from the fans and the media and it starts impacting on the players. We will be ready."