Two more points thrown away

Last updated : 11 April 2007 By The Chairman
The Latics threw away another great chance to steal points on their rivals with a lack luster draw at Bradford City. Bradford took the lead through Ashikodi in the 65th. minute but Glombard saved Athletic's blushes with an equaliser just four minutes from time. With Scunthorpe and Bristol City losing, and Nottingham Forest dropping two points in a home draw with Rotherham it was left to Yeovil to gain the initiative with a 2-1 win over Leyton Orient. Carlisle and Swansea picked up good wins so Athletic were left to rue another missed chance to consolidate a play-off spot. They now sit in sixth place and must be nervously looking over their shoulders at the following pack.

Manager John Sheridan was fuming with the performance and is expecting a complete turn around in attitude when Cheltenham visit Boundary Park on Saturday. He commented after the game, "I don't think the lads are feeling the heat. It can be tight at this stage of the season and you've got to deal with it, but we played well for 75 minutes against Huddersfield and it was a good performance against Yeovil the week before. We aren't doing anything different to a few weeks ago, but we need to start winning games consistently because that's what other teams are doing. We are drawing too many at the moment. We've got to start getting in front and staying there. And I want to see us taking the game to the opposition more because there's no doubt we are good enough to do it."

"We all know Warney (pictured) runs his socks off every week, so it was totally a case of giving him a rest. I pulled him at half time and told him he wasn't dropped. It was always the plan to send him on because he gives you that energy and enthusiasm. For some reason I probably moan more at Warney than any other player, but he leads from the front and everybody responds to him. I just thought Chris Porter and Luigi Glombard could cause problems for Bradford, but we didn't give them enough service. Every game between now and the end of the season is very important. Cheltenham are another side fighting to stay up, and the lads need to stand up and be counted. I'll be looking for a lot more from lots of members of my team."

Bradford manager David Wetherall, talking of the sending off, told the Telegraph & Argus, "Nobody is more disappointed than Joe. He knows that had he stayed on the pitch, the odds are we would have got three points. I can't argue with the second booking and he deserved to get sent off. We all know it's a costly mistake. But I don't want this to shatter Joe's confidence. He's a young boy learning in the glare of the first team spotlight and that's not an easy thing to do. He's been exceptionally good for us in a lot of games he's played. Even when things have not been going quite so well for him he never hides and always wants the ball. We're all obviously disappointed."

"We were looking red hot favourites to win until the sending off, but Joe has got to keep focused on what he has done over a period of weeks. The two performances over the weekend have been very pleasing but we don't stay up on performances. We really needed the three points. If we can play with that intensity and quality then it gives us a chance. I don't think we're playing like a team in our situation."