ATHLETIC are still hoping to send strikers Paul Beavers and Ryan Sugden out on loan in time for Christmas. Manager Andy Ritchie believes both players need extra league experience and the busy festive period would be an ideal time. Beavers (21) suffered an Achilles injury three months ago and has been restricted to the reserves ever since. Sugden, meanwhile, is playing most of his football for the club's under-19s. He hasn't featured in the first team since mid-September.

Athletic have alerted other clubs to the duo's availability and are now waiting for replies. Also on show in tonight's reserve-team match at home to Burnley (7 pm) will be another up-for-grabs striker, David McNiven who, along with defender Iain Swan, can leave Boundary Park on a free transfer. Athletic could go top of the Pontins League premier division tonight, but Ritchie will not be there to see them. He has gone on a spying mission to St Albans, whose home ground is being used by Enfield. The non-league side meet Preston in an FA Cup replay, the winners of which will be at home to Athletic in the third round.

WHILE the fat cats continue devouring large portions of soccer’s financial cake, the likes of Athletic are fighting over the scraps. Most clubs outside the Premiership find it an increasing struggle to make ends meet and many, like Athletic, have resorted to offloading players as quickly as possible. Five youngsters have left Boundary Park in the last week after accepting offers to tear up their contracts. David McNiven and Iain Swan can leave on free transfers and more action is sure to be taken as Athletic cut their number of professionals from a still-excessive 32. But, with less money filtering down from the top of the game to lubricate the way, it is difficult to keep the transfer wheel turning. Athletic receive countless lists of players who are available and some contain surprising names. It recently emerged that Tranmere — from a division which, in theory, is in a healthier condition — have made several players available for free, including Lee Jones. In the past, the one-time Liverpool wonderkid would have commanded a decent fee, as would Tony Thorpe — a £1million striker among nine names being circulated by Bristol City. The reason clubs are so keen to get these players off their hands is that they simply can’t afford to pay them. It is one thing to cough up high wages for a first-team regular, quite another for someone who does little where it matters most. But more problems arise when the likes of Jones and Thorpe, who are only two of many, come to negotiate a transfer. Although it looks like clubs can have their pick of the freebies, they have to offer a salary which the player is willing to accept. And that’s before they agree on signing-on fees and bonuses. Athletic chief executive Alan Hardy said: “We are inundated with faxes and circulars about players. “Some clubs are desperate to reduce their wage bills, including by getting people out on loan. “But they are having problems doing that even when they are prepared to contribute to the player’s wages while he is somewhere else. “Clubs are coming under increasing financial pressure and one of the main reasons is that money isn’t spread around as much as it used to be. “It used to be the case that a lower-division team would sell someone off and use the proceeds to buy three or four players from different clubs. “That is happening much less now because transfer fees from the Premier League often go abroad instead of down the divisions.” Athletic’s cost-cutting, which involves people outside the regular first-team squad, will have to allow for senior players whose contracts are due to run out. It would be a risk, for example, to get rid of two right-backs if the man who usually fills that position had the option of leaving in the summer. Several youngsters are tied to the club long term, including Ryan Sugden, Andrew Holt, Matthew Tipton, Mark Innes and David Miskelly. But new deals will soon have to be offered to senior players such as Richard Graham, Gary Kelly, Scott McNiven, Mark Allott and John Sheridan. As the Bosman ruling states players over 24 can move for free when they are out of contract, only McNiven would command a fee.

ATHLETIC’S second string go into tonight’s match against Burnley as serious contenders for the Pontins League title. The reserves are second in the premier division table, with the smallest of margins — a goal difference one inferior to Port Vale’s — keeping them out of top spot. Athletic were leading the way until they slipped up at home to Manchester City a couple of weeks ago. As City’s side included, among others, Lee Crooks, Michael Brown, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Kakhaber Tskhadadze and Terry Cooke, it is a sign of how far the reserves have come that the 2-2 draw was a disappointment. Athletic came within an ace of winning the title last season, being denied on goal difference by Coventry. The Pontins League was re-arranged during the summer and there are now no Premiership clubs involved. The reserves are also building up a handy record in the two knock-out competitions. In the round-robin stage of the Pontins League Cup, they have beaten Stockport and Macclesfield without conceding a goal. Victory at Rochdale next week would make certain of their progress to the next round. In the Manchester Senior Cup, meanwhile, they have won their first two group games, against Man City and Bury, the latter on penalties. That is a follow-up to last season’s effort when they were beaten in the final by Manchester United. The side, led by assistant manager Bill Urmson, plus youth coaches David Cross and Tony Philliskirk, is consistently successful despite a turnover of players which, by the very nature of the team, is quite high. It features many of the youngsters of whom so much is expected and, already this season, has continued to produce a flow of talent for the first team. Mark Hotte, Ben Futcher and Danny Walsh have all become regular members of Andy Ritchie’s squad after beginning the season as virtual unknowns. Others are showing evidence of maturity in a side which, once Athletic have removed the dead wood from the club, will get even younger. Tonight’s home game against Burnley kicks off at 7 o’clock.

ATHLETIC are well on course to achieve the target set for them by skipper Lee Duxbury. The inspirational midfield man believes a top-half finish would represent real progress for a side who escaped relegation last season by the skin of their teeth. After Saturday’s draw with Wrexham, Athletic are 14th in the second division table, eight places higher than the same time last year. Optimists have even been weighing up the play-off places, but Duxbury would settle for a more modest return from 10 months of hard work. “I’d be happy to finish just above halfway,” he said. “I’m not saying we can’t go higher, but I do think anything else would be a bonus. “You have to be realistic. You can’t expect to go from a near miss at the bottom to reaching the play-offs in the space of one season unless there’s a large injection of money. “It’s the season afterwards that you start to think a bit higher and look at progressing to somewhere else. “And I’m certainly not going to start talking about going up because that sort of thing backfires on you. “After one game last year — I think it was when we won at York — the manager said we were aiming for the play-offs. “Just after that, things started going from bad to worse.”

Duxbury is the most expensive signing on Athletic’s books, having cost £350,000 from Bradford. In his 125 games since that move, he has become one of the players the side cannot do without. As the manager’s first lieutenant, he always gives the impression that he is leading from the front and trying to set the example for his team. Yet, surprisingly, he dismisses the suggestion that captaincy galvanises his game. “A lot of people say that, but it’s not really the case,” Duxbury explained. “Everyone has their standards and my first priority isn’t everyone else’s, it’s my own. I feel disgusted with myself if I let my team-mates down. “There have been two or three times this season when we’ve won but I haven’t played as well as I can and I’ve gone home disappointed. “If everyone is like that you have a chance of being a decent side and, personally, that’s the main reason I enjoy playing next to John Sheridan. “He is a quality player, we all know that, but he also keeps me on my toes. “You have to learn from your mistakes and, if I make a few, Shez absolutely slaughters me on the pitch. “That type of thing keeps you focused because everyone has to win over their opponent first if a team is going to do well.” Duxbury accepts that the relegation scare of last May has been a motivating force in Athletic’s improvement.

He said: “We started poorly again this season and we just needed a turning point to set us on our way. “We’re having that run at the moment and you could see the difference at Bristol City last week when we came from behind to get a point. “We would have lost that game a few months back, but I think everyone is physically and mentally stronger this season. “Everyone wants to play in as high a league as they can and I’m just the same — I know I’m not a Premier League footballer but I can play in the first division. “The young lads shouldn’t be thinking they’ll be in this division right through their careers either. “There are players here with a chance of going up to the highest level and people are starting to notice that and come to have a look at them. “Now they’ve got last season under their belts, the experience is showing through and helping the team as a whole.” It is a footballing cliché to talk about “a good set of lads” but, in Athletic’s case, there does seem to be genuine harmony in the ranks. Players mix, talk and joke with each other regardless of their background or seniority. Duxbury — owner of one of the club’s most mischievous senses of humour — believes the spirit is another factor in Athletic’s run of form. With Paul Rickers in earshot, he said: “It’s a big help if you can have a laugh. “It brings people together, although a few do sulk about it — especially Rickers when you call him a tight *****! “I’ve been at clubs where there are little cliques and things are a bit awkward, but here anyone could room with anyone else and feel totally comfortable. “That’s one of the reasons I don’t need to lead by example as captain — it’s already a group thing. “We have a great blend here and everyone feels like we are in it together.”