Away record halted

Last updated : 20 January 2008 By The Chairman

Athletic's run of seven consecutive away wins was halted at Huish Park where they played out a creditable game and came away with just a point in a 0-0 draw against Yeovil Town. John Sheridan admitted his side rode their luck and it was thanks to veteran goalkeeper Mark Crossley who helped them obtain their point with some great saves. Two goal line clearances from Lee Hughes (pictured) were also needed as the Glovers attacked the Latics with the belief that they could win the game. Athletic had limited goal attempts but they still managed to keep their ninth clean sheet of the season.

Sheridan told Latics World, "We rode our luck a little today and I don't think we played well. It wasn't a great game, in fact it was probably one of the worst performances since I became manager. The conditions weren't great, but we only got at Yeovil in the last fifteen or twenty minutes and we could have even nicked it at the end. But it's a clean sheet. They hit the post, Mark Crossley made some good saves and Lee Hughes got two off the line."

"The conditions got to us more than Yeovil and they passed the ball and caused us problems. When you play poorly you take what you get, and in this case it's a point. We came here to win the game, but our performance didn't merit that. We defended too much for my liking. Mark had too much to do and we didn't get our game going."

Lee Hughes picked up his fifth booking of the season and will miss the FA Cup game against Huddersfield as a result. Sheridan was disappointed with the booking and confessed, "We spoke before the game and he knew the situation. Now he'll miss a big game, and we need players because we're short of numbers. I'm sure it'll hurt him when the day of the game comes around."