O'Grady salutes 'refreshing' attitudes of Athletic kids

Striker Chris O'Grady with Frankie Bunn when he re-signed for Athletic in the summer

Striker Chris O’Grady has criticised the youth teams at one of his former clubs and heaped praise on Athletic's current crop of starlets ahead of the League Two trip to Swindon Town tomorrow.

The 32-year old spent last season at Chesterfield, reportedly the highest paid player in the history of the club, but couldn’t stop them being relegated out of the Football League at the end of a dismal campaign.

Now back at Athletic, the experienced O'Grady is using his knowledge to help out the younger members of Frankie Bunn’s squad, including the likes of Sam Surridge.

O’Grady says there is a stark difference between those he’s advising at the moment and the players he attempted to influence while at the Proact Stadium.

He said: “It was the case of the players thinking they know it all before they’ve done anything.

"I think that’s why we ended up where we did.

"It’s definitely different to that. It’s a refreshing difference [at Oldham], they’re definitely willing to learn and soak up any of the experience from the older players.”

Since arriving at Boundary Park, O’Grady has formed a strong partnership with Surridge, who arrived in the North West on loan from Bournemouth, with the pair notching up eight goals so far, although Surridge has seven of those to his name.

They’ll be looking to add to that tally tomorrow when they travel to Swindon, putting Athletic's unbeaten away record in the league on the line.

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