Ritchie to make changes?
Garnett on recovery road
Chairboys preview

Andrew Holt has already been passed fit after a dead leg and looks certain to regain his place on the left-hand side of defence. That means Rickers and Innes are competing for one midfield slot after both playing their part in the 4-0 FA Cup victory over Chelmsford. Rickers has missed only one game all season and has alternated between wing-back and his preferred role in the midfield engine room. Innes did a tidy job as Holt's understudy on Saturday, but he is still to find his best form. If the 21-year-old is left on the bench tonight, it would be the third time this season that he has been dropped. Athletic will be otherwise unchanged as they aim to make it four wins in six games and climb to their highest league position so far. Strikers Mark Allott and Craig Dudley, plus defender Richard Graham, will all be back in action after being rested in the last half-hour of the cup tie. 

ATHLETIC (from): Kelly, Adams, Holt, S McNiven, Hotte, Graham, Rickers, Sheridan, Duxbury, Allott, Dudley, Innes, Futcher, Tipton, Whitehall, Miskelly, I McLean. 

Wycombe were held to a cup draw by minnows Oxford City at the weekend, a result which followed a home league defeat against Blackpool. They have fallen to 11th place after a fine start to the season and their decline has coincided with the loss of Dave Carroll. Carroll, who is Wycombe's answer to John Sheridan, is again set to be ruled out by a groin strain. With defender Matt Lawrence suspended, manager Lawrie Sanchez is expected to keep an unchanged team. 

WYCOMBE (probable): Taylor, Rogers, Beeton, Cousins, Bates, Ryan, Brown, Simpson, Baird, Devine, McSporran. Subs: Emblen, Osborne, Vinnicombe, Harkin, Bulman. 

Ritchie ready to hang up his boots

ANDY RITCHIE has admitted for the first time that his illustrious playing career is effectively over. The Athletic boss is not retiring officially, but he concedes that it would take “exceptional circumstances” for him to make a comeback. Ritchie turns 39 this month and the years, combined with the knocks he took in more than two decades as a centre-forward, are catching up fast. Though his contract means he will be registered as a player until the end of next season, it seems certain that a brief appearance in last year’s FA Cup will be the low-key swansong of the manager’s career. Ritchie admitted: “I’m not hanging up my boots just yet because you never know if I’ll be needed. “But, yes, it would need rather exceptional circumstances for me to play. “I couldn’t manage more than three of four games on the trot now. I’m not fit enough to do it and the game is getting too quick for me. “I’m not even playing in the reserves as I don’t want to get in the way of the people who are the future of the club. “More than ever, you have to be an athlete — and more of an athlete than I am at the moment. “Something else is that it’s hard to combine the two jobs of player and manager. “I was assistant at Scarborough and I found it difficult to come off at half-time and give the players a telling off. “But I do still get out on the training ground and do my stuff. In fact, I’m still our best player!”

It is a sign of Ritchie’s legendary status that he was voted the greatest player in Athletic’s history. Despite several injuries — the most serious of which required major back surgery in 1992 — he has racked up 654 senior appearances for five different clubs. His goals total stands at 210, including 177 in the league. In his two spells at Boundary Park, Ritchie has hit the net 107 times in 277 games — a tally boosted by his tremendous total of 23 goals in 34 cup matches. But since taking over as manager in the summer of last year, the boss has made it on to the pitch just twice. Ritchie’s reluctance to stand in the way of progress is all the more understandable when Athletic’s cluster of strikers is taken into account. At the moment, the pecking order probably reads Craig Dudley, Mark Allott, Steve Whitehall and Matthew Tipton. Next come David McNiven and Ryan Sugden, but Paul Beavers is showing up well in the reserves and should jump the queue as soon as he is ready to return. Athletic also have Darren Wardle, an 18-year-old who leads the line well, breaking into the Pontins League side after impressing in the youth team. All of which means Ritchie has to rotate his strikers below senior level in order to give everyone a game. With such a surplus, it does make sense for Ritchie to stand aside and concentrate on the more important aspect of his job. He is gradually getting to grips with the demands of management and can make a greater contribution from his own side of the touchline. It would also take something close to a Boundary Park plague epidemic to persuade him to don his number 23 shirt. Shame though it is to witness the end of a great era, Ritchie the rookie manager has quite enough on his plate as it is.

Gareth’s double delight in cup

ATHLETIC’S youngsters continued their flying start in the Youth Alliance Cup when they slammed Tranmere Rovers 5-1. Setting the example for the first team’s demolition of Chelmsford, the under-19s could have won by an even bigger margin. Gareth Gardiner open-ed the scoring early on, only for Athletic to miss chances and allow Tranmere to draw level before half-time. It was a different story after the break, with Darren Wardle, Ryan Sugden and Nathan Wharton making it 4-1 before Gardiner completed the rout with his second. Frustrated Tranmere then had a man sent off for violent conduct. Athletic are in the same group as Rochdale, Bury and Stockport and, having already beaten Rochdale 4-2, are well on course for a place in the last 16. The under-17s went down 2-1 in a friendly with Wolves. Alun Oliver put the Boundary Park boys in front within 30 seconds, but the Midlands side hit back despite an encouraging display by Athletic.

Shaun back on mend

POWERFUL defender Shaun Garnett is back in training after the second hernia operation of his career. The 29-year-old centre-back, who has missed the last eight games, now hopes to be ready for action by the end of the month. Garnett’s injury was originally thought to be nothing more serious than an abdominal strain. But a specialist saw that his stomach wall had come loose eight years after he had surgery to repair similar damage. Garnett was signed from Swansea, Athletic’s opponents in the FA Cup second round, and he would love to beat the clock and be ready for the tie on November 20. He said: “The specialist said I could be out for six more weeks, but I’m looking to be back well before that.” n THE reserves travel to West Brom tomorrow night as table-toppers in the Pontins League premier division. Last week’s 4-1 hammering of Port Vale saw the Boundary Park second string, who always include several youngsters, take top spot from big-spending Wolves. Athletic are also going well in both the Manchester Senior Cup and the Pontins League Cup, with four wins out of four meaning they have lost only twice in 11 outings. Leading the scoring charts is six-goal Matthew Tipton, while Steve Whitehall has hit four either side of his ankle injuries.