22nd October 1999 

Bookies favour ......... Latics

MIDFIELD maestro John Sheridan is out of Athletic's plans for the vital home match against Reading tomorrow. After a run of one defeat in five games, culminating in Tuesday night's victory at Blackpool, Athletic are desperate to keep up their momentum. But they will have to do it without the man who pulls the strings so expertly and provides the focal point of most of their attacks. Sheridan missed the Blackpool match with 'flu and is too ill to make a comeback tomorrow. Mark Innes keeps his place in midfield after a solid display on Tuesday, meaning Athletic — for whom Mark Hotte and Craig Dudley make full home debuts — will almost certainly be unchanged. But striker Ryan Sugden and defender Iain Swan are back in the picture as possible replacements for Jordan Tait, who will be out for at least a month with a groin injury. 

Sugden has been unwell recently but made a goalscoring return for the reserves in midweek and could feature for the first time in six games. If he is given a place on the bench alongside Matthew Tipton and Steve Whitehall, Athletic would have three centre-forwards among their substitutes. Swan, meanwhile, would provide extra defensive cover for the first of four home league matches out of five. Manager Andy Ritchie knows the importance of beating Reading, who have yet to take a single point away from home. He said: "It's a very important game. Reading won against Bury the other night so we have to make sure we do the job right. "It's also important that we take advantage of our home status. This run of games is only a chance to move up the table if we apply ourselves properly." 

ATHLETIC (probable): Kelly, Adams, Holt, Graham, Hotte, S McNiven, Rickers, Duxbury, Innes, Dudley, Allott. Subs (from): Miskelly, Futcher, Whitehall, Tipton, Sugden, Swan. Reading are set to pair Keith Scott and Martin Williams up front as £650,000 striker Nicky Forster is out with a knee injury. Midfielder Sean Evers, a £500,000 recruit from Luton, could return after making only one brief appearance since he signed in March. 

READING (from): Whitehead, Gurney, Hodges, Bernal, Hunter, Primus, Caskey, Parkinson, Grant, Scott, Williams, Howey, Evers, Casper, McIntyre, Sarr, Smith, Gray. 

Last-gasp equaliser saved me ­ Pardew

IF Athletic had not allowed Reading to grab an injury-time equaliser when the two sides met last month, Alan Pardew would no longer be the Royals’ manager. That is the appraisal of Pardew himself — a disarmingly honest one, but something he can admit from the comfort of a brand-new two-year contract. At the time, Pardew and John Gorman were caretaker bosses of a club whose persistent under-achievement had just led to the sacking of manager Tommy Burns. The partnership won their first game in charge, but were heading for a home defeat against Athletic when substitute John Polston struck almost five minutes into added time. Subsequent results would have left them with a record of three losses in four games — not exactly a flawless argument for taking over from Burns on a full-time basis. Pardew believes that Polston’s last-gasp goal could have been the saving grace for he and Gorman when the Reading board was finalising Burns’ successor. “Oldham deserved all three points from that game,” conceded Pardew, who brings his side to Boundary Park tomorrow.

“We were fortunate to get something at the end and, if we hadn’t, myself and John might not be in a job right now. “Oldham had been on a bad run, but I was impressed by their shape and their play. “They came with something in mind and, apart from the goal, did a perfect away job on us. “I have great respect for Andy Ritchie. He has taken on a tough job, just like we have here. “It doesn’t surprise me that Oldham have got good results since we played them — I just hope it doesn’t carry on.” Mark Allott was Athletic’s scorer in that game, the goal coming in the midst of his current run of five in seven games. Allott will be joined up front tomorrow by in-form Craig Dudley as Athletic try to overcome their injury problems without bringing in new players to compensate. Meanwhile, Reading’s high-profile chairman, John Madejski, has bank-rolled a new stadium — modestly naming it after himself — and an influx of big-money signings. After Pardew and Gorman were installed temporarily, the multi-millionaire had his pick of a who’s who of managerial talent. Graeme Souness, Denis Smith, Colin Todd and former England defender Kenny Sansom are all reputed to have applied for the job. There was also much talk of Glenn Hoddle getting involved in some capacity, while former boss Mark McGhee made his own interest perfectly clear in a series of Press interviews. A return for McGhee, however, was always a non-starter. His departure to Leicester five years ago, only 24 hours after he had shaken on a deal to stay loyal, led to bitter recriminations in and around Berkshire. It is a tribute to Pardew, Reading’s former reserve-team coach, that he was given his first chance in full-time management despite the stiff competition from outside. He said: “Results haven’t been great, but we were second from bottom when myself and John took over.

“All the money has been spent now, so we have the players and we’re working with what we’ve got. “When people see the chairman and the stadium, their expectations are automatically high. “But we’re looking for a steady improvement and, after beating Bury on Wednesday night, I like to think we’ve turned the corner.” That 2-0 win ended with an extraordinary twist when Bury manager Neil Warnock, who had already used up his three substitutions, also dragged off Darren Bullock and Steve Redmond. Warnock claimed the referee had been against his team all night and had withdrawn two more players — leaving Bury with nine men — to protect them from more punishment. While Warnock was making a protest in his own inimitable style, Pardew was ending a run of three successive Reading defeats. Although he probably owes Athletic a debt of gratitude, you can be sure his mind will be occupied with points rather than thanks when he encounters them again tomorrow.

Trio's fitness boost