Steadying the ship

STEPHEN ROBINSON . . . five clean sheets

MANAGER Stephen Robinson continues to take the cautious approach to breeding confidence ­- and eventually success ­- as his Athletic squad continues to adjust to the challenges of Sky Bet League One.

Athletic sit in 19th place with eight points from eight games so far.

They have scored only four league goals, but a huge positive has been the five clean sheets secured so far. Athletic do look solid at the back at present.

Robinson has aims and aspirations, but he is also keen to remain realistic as he is still only eight weeks into his job ­- one he took on following an at-times traumatic summer period behind the scenes at SportsDirect.com Park.

Robinson told the Chronicle: "First and foremost, when you've come into a situation like we did, the aim has to be to stay in the league.

"Of course behind closed doors we've got different aspirations, but so far I think the squad are really organised, we're efficient, and to be honest we've played some good football, particularly at Coventry.

"I've got aims I'm not going to shout about yet, but for now I think we just need to steady the ship, get to Christmas and see where we are.

"Then it can be about starting to go again.

'FOOTING'

"We've given ourselves a good footing in the division and we've got an organised base to play from, but by the same reckoning you can't do it the other way around.

"You can't go conceding five goals in every game.

"We've secured the most clean sheets in all four divisions at the moment, so if someone had said that to me before I brought in 22 players during the summer, I'd have snapped their hand off."

Rookie boss Robinson is content that his team possess sufficient quality about it, ahead of Saturday's next league test, at home to Swindon.

It was widely felt that Athletic deserved to win last weekend, when denied by the woodwork in a 0-0 draw at Coventry.

"We are playing good stuff, make no mistake about that," added Robinson.

"There was the game against Chesterfield which wasn't the most exciting in the world, but apart from that I feel we've been on top in a lot of games and could have won more of them.

"When I came in there were five players and no staff don't forget, though I've no idea about previous circumstances.

"I've been asked to come in and build a team here, and we have come a long way in just eight weeks, most definitely.

"People's expectations are huge, no matter what the size of your club or your crowd, but though they can be unrealistic sometimes, as a staff group and players as well, we've got expectations.

"We won't go shouting about them, but we are probably better than our league position suggests.

"But the base we've built, and the squad of players we've put together gives everyone hope. I think we'll be okay."