Wellens gearing up for a vital pre-season

Richie Wellens is counting down the weeks until the end of the 2017/18 Sky Bet League One campaign.

Ahead of tomorrow's tough-looking trip to Oxford United, Athletic are still far from safe towards the bottom end of the table.

With eight matches still to play, Wellens' men are currently just a point outside the drop zone, though they do have games in hand on almost all the teams above and below them in the third tier standings.

Wellens wants to hit the 50-plus points safety target as swiftly as possible, then it's all about looking ahead to next term, when hopefully his team will be battling hard at the other end of the table.

“The biggest thing for me now, after having conversations with the owner, is to get to the end of the season," said Wellens.

“As soon as the season is over, then we can plan.

“From May 7 or 8 or whenever it is, we need to plan.

“At this club, too many times in pre-season the planning has been done in late July or the beginning of August.

“By the end of this season’s transfer window we found ourselves 14 or 15 points behind some teams.

“Why would we do that next time? We need to start our planning early and get players in place.

“You can then go away, and start the bonding side of things, because that’s huge.

“What you don’t want is to go away for pre-season, work hard on stuff, then at the beginning of August you’ve got six new players.

“Hopefully at the end of the season we can have a good six to eight weeks to plan, and that will give us a platform to work from.”

Striker Craig Davies is fit again so he will be available for selection for tomorrow's Kassam Stadium clash.

However, Anthony Gerrard, Ryan McLaughlin and Cameron Dummigan are still out injured.

A win tomorrow would lift Athletic onto the same points tally as Karl Robinson's stuttering Oxford.

Meanwhile, fans can enjoy traditional pie and peas in the Broadway Suite for Athletic's revised fixture against Walsall on Wednesday, April 11 (7.45pm kick-off).

For just £30, supporters can enjoy the warmth and comfort of the Broadway Suite bar in the North Stand and enjoy traditional pie and peas before taking up their executive, padded seats on the halfway line for the game.

There will be player visits before the game and the man of the match presentations post-match.

The package includes:

• Hospitality bar access before the game, at half time and post-match
• Traditional pie and peas supper
• Teamsheets delivered to the suite
• Match day hosts
• Padded, halfway line executive seats
• Post-game Man of the Match award
• Match day competitions

Limited spaces are available. For more information or to book, call 0161 785 5185.