3rd December 1999 

Ritchie waiting on fitness testsPreston previews

OLDHAM Athletic boss Andy Ritchie is "keeping his fingers crossed" as Richard Graham and Craig Dudley face late fitness tests for tomorrow's trip to Preston North End. 

Ritchie is hoping the pair will receive a clean bill of health against the title-chasing Lilywhites. Tomorrow's division two clash is the first of two visits to Deepdale in the space of a week, and the inclusion of Graham and Dudley would come as a welcome boost to mid-table Athletic. Dudley's pace and skill in attack was noticeable by its absence during Saturday's goalless draw against Wrexham, while Graham offers poise and experience at the back. 

Ritchie said: "There is a glimmer of hope that both will be fit, but we'll just have to wait and see." Preston, who somehow missed out on promotion last season, are currently enjoying a 13-match unbeaten league run which has taken them into second place behind big-spenders Wigan. But Ritchie believes, with an away record that stands up to any in the division, his side can cause a Lancashire derby upset. "Even though we lost 1-0 to them on the first day of the season, I felt we could have won the game," said Ritchie. 

"Preston beat us twice last season when we deserved better, and hopefully some of the lads might have a bit of revenge on their minds. "We know Preston are a good side, but if we can perform to the best of our ability we'll be able to compete with them." Athletic's last defeat on away soil was 11 weeks ago when they were edged out in a five-goal thriller at Bristol Rovers. But since then, they have conceded only four goals in five excursions from Boundary Park. 

Athletic (from): Kelly, Rickers, Holt, S McNiven, Hotte, Garnett, Sheridan, Duxbury, Innes, Allott, Whitehall, Futcher, Jones, Walsh, Tipton, Dudley, Graham, Miskelly.

Preston manager David Moyes could be without three of the his recognised four midfield players. Moyes is waiting on the fitness of Mark Rankine (knee) and Lee Cartwright (knee), but he is definitely without influential skipper Sean Gregan. Gregan is suspended for one game after receiving a fifth booking. In his place could come Frenchman Fariad Diaf, who is yet to complete a full 90 minutes after picking up a groin injury and suffering a fractured cheekbone since his arrival in the summer.

Former Manchester United youngster Michael Appleton and veteran Julian Darby are other midfield options for Moyes. Preston (from); Moilanen, Alexander, Jackson, Kidd, Edwards, Murdoch, Appleton, Rankine, Darby, Eyres, Cartwright, Barry-Murphy, Diaf, Macken, Nogan, Mathie, Gunnlaugsson, Lucas. 

Preston out to erase memory of near miss

ATHLETIC must make it unlucky 13 for Preston North End tomorrow if they are to add another three points to their long unbeaten away record. The last time Andy Ritchie’s side lost on their travels was 11 weeks ago when they were unlucky to go down in a 3-2 thriller with Bristol Rovers. They have since drawn at Reading and Cardiff, won at both Blackpool and Chesterfield and taken a good point from Bristol City. Their away displays contain all the confidence they so clearly lack at home while, for reasons Ritchie is desperately trying to understand, they are also more clinical in front of goal. Those features will be severely tested at Deepdale, however, as Preston have gone 13 unbeaten in the league to climb all the way into an automatic promotion spot.

They were distraught to miss out on those positions at the end of last season, having spent several months bang on course for division one. A flying start — including a 1-0 victory at Athletic — put the Lilywhites into second place early on. They never dropped lower than fourth and even went top of the table thanks to five successive wins at the turn of the year. Further consistent form kept them in the top two until Easter but, with the finishing line in sight, they stumbled badly and could manage only one victory in their last nine games. An out-of-form team then lost out to Gillingham in the play-off semi-finals, denying a once-great club its first shot at the top two divisions since 1981. 

It was predictable that manager David Moyes would come under immediate pressure to right that wrong when his new campaign dawned at Boundary Park in August. Preston edged that game 1-0 — a result which sent Athletic on a downward spiral and left no-one in any doubt about his own side’s intentions. They are now second in the table behind Wigan, with only goal difference separating the two Lancashire rivals. To his credit, Moyes has continued the good work without spending the fortune required by Wigan. It was that ability to get the best out of players which saw the young boss linked with Manchester United last season when Brian Kidd left for his ill-fated jaunt to Blackburn. The only transfer fee Moyes has paid since March was the £200,000 required for Steve Basham when the on-loan forward signed permanently from Southampton. Basham scored 10 in 15 games for Preston last season, prompting the Premiership club to demand £1.3million for his services.

Preston offered only £100,000 and, when the fee inevitably went to tribunal, they were pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Ironically, Basham has since spent most of his time injured, first with a knee cartilage problem and then a twisted ankle. The scoring honours have instead been taken by Jonathan Macken, who bagged the goal which sank Athletic on the opening day. The former Manchester United trainee is showing real signs of fulfilling his promise at the age of 22 and has so far hit the net a dozen times. There has been no regular partner for Macken as Moyes has flitted between Basham, Kurt Nogan, Alex Mathie and Bjarki Gunnlaugsson.

Nogan was last term’s 21-goal leading scorer, but he is an out-and-out finisher whom many feel doesn’t do enough outside the box. Mathie — coming to the end of a three-month loan spell from Dundee United — is a more creative player and has picked up plenty of know-how with Newcastle United and Ipswich. Gunnlaugsson, meanwhile, is the twin brother of Leicester forward Arnar. He was signed from a club in Reykjavik until the end of the season and, like his brother, is an Icelandic international. Despite Preston’s promising beginnings, bitter experience has persuade Moyes to preach caution. He has adopted a catchphrase this season — “Don’t get carried away” — and continually reminds expectant fans to take nothing for granted. As Athletic are back at Deepdale in the FA Cup next week, tomorrow’s match is episode two of a potential four-part series. The cup may be a wonderful distraction, but both managers would surely admit that this league clash is the one they want to win.

The North End chief erupted saying: “Many people are working very hard to bring this project to fruition and they, like me, are deeply upset by your unjustified criticism.” In the Total Football article, headlined Putting On A Brave Face, the PSG chairman expressed concerns that manager David Moyes was being starved of the cash to take the side into Division One. Gray responded to that by telling Holt: “The negative tone of the article is largely due to quotes from you. You are recycling previous comments and being generally critical of PNE. Assertions were made in the article which were frankly ridiculous and I have to assume they originated from PSG 2000. “In the past I have tried to respond to your communications with courtesy and honesty. I have always tried to support our various supporters groups. Healthy debate is good for the football club and I seek to encourage it.” Holt, who received Gray’s letter last night, admitted today: “I’ve had a sleepless night over this. I’m deeply upset that the chairman should think we don’t have the best interests of the club at heart. “It has never been my intention, or that of any of the officials of PSG 2000, to antagonise North End. We want to build a relationship with the board. Obviously there are going to be times when we disagree. But we certainly don’t want to go down the road of not talking. “I can understand Mr Gray’s anger at the two articles and I would welcome the opportunity to sit down and talk to him in depth about them. “I would plead with Mr Gray to let us meet him, say after Christmas, and we can address the issues he is upset about. “We seem to have got off on the wrong foot here and I would ask Mr Gray to give us another chance to show what we are really all about.”

Meanwhile manager Moyes has midfield problems for tomorrow’s League game with Oldham Athletic – the first of two consecutive Saturdays that Latics will be visiting Deepdale. With skipper Sean Gregan out on a one-match ban and major doubts over Mark Rankine (knee) and Lee Cartwright (knee), Moyes could be forced to completely reshape his side in the middle of the park. Paul McKenna is also unavailable after surgery this week to repair a hernia. So Michael Appleton and Julian Darby, who both played in the midweek FA Cup win against Enfield, should figure and there is a strong chance Frenchman Farid Diaf will play some part too. Moyes also has Rob Edwards, Brian Barry-Murphy and Bjarki Gunnlaugsson as alternative options. North End will be bidding to make it 14 unbeaten in the league. They also have a chance to go top should Wigan falter at Scunthorpe. It will be Preston’s first league game at Deepdale for more than three weeks since they beat Notts County. In that time they have gathered six points out of six from trips to Luton and Bury and made it safely through to the FA Cup third round. Moyes said: “We have been on the road a bit lately, but we’ve been very successful. It’s nice to get back home and I’m looking forward to us playing at Deepdale again. “Confidence is high at the moment – it has been for most of the season – but we don’t want to get over-confident and we must keep things on an even keel.”

Gregan is learning from his mistakes

Sean Gregan will be missing from the Preston line-up against Oldham tomorrow because of suspension – but North End boss David Moyes believes his skipper’s discipline on the pitch has improved greatly since the start of the season. And Moyes takes the view that the powerhouse midfielder is becoming a better player as he learns to keep his cool during matches. Gregan is serving a one-game ban after accumulating five yellow cards, but it’s not a case of him picking up those bookings in quick succession. They stretch right back to August, and it was only in the dying seconds of the FA Cup home tie with Enfield that he collected the all-important fifth to rule him out of tomorrow’s clash. He was sent off at Wycombe earlier in the camapign, but his run-ins with referees have certainly reduced. The skipper has been a colossus in the middle of the park in recent weeks, and the manager knows exactly why. “Sean has been doing very well and I think the reason for that is because he has not been charging around the pitch like he used to,” explained Moyes. “It has not only been noticeable to me and I’m sure the supporters have noticed that too. “We don’t want to change the way he plays, but his play has improved since he stopped flying into as many challenges. “He has been picking and choosing the right occasions to win the ball and when to stay off and hold back. To be fair to Sean, it’s not as if he’s been collecting these yellow cards on a frequent basis. “He has been hanging on four bookings for quite a while, and went something like six or seven matches without one. “But he got a stupid booking at the end of the Enfield game which has ruled him out tomorrow. “We’re always talking to Sean, always having a word with him and encouraging him. “He has a big responsibility at the club being the skipper, not only to the team but to the supporters.”

Moyes is proud of the all-round discipline in his side, especially with the number of bookings being handed out by referees these days. “It’s all part and parcel of the game nowadays and teams are always going to get suspensions and bookings,” he said. “This season a lot of our bookings and sendings offs have been unfortunate and have come in reserve team football.” Moyes will be keeping his fingers crossed that Gregan’s regular central midfield buddy Mark Rankine recovers from an knee injury in time to line-up tomorrow. He missed Tuesday’s FA Cup win at Enfield and a second absence would be a huge blow for Moyes with half his first choice pairing already missing. Michael Appleton seems certain to start the game in one of the midfield berths after featuring for the full 90 minutes at Enfield after returning from knee surgery. Rankine would fill the other, but if not, Moyes may have to push Rob Edwards forward from left back or move Julian Darby in from the right wing role he occupied in midweek.