8th December 1999
8th December 1999 ATHLETIC boss Andy Ritchie was today hoping to discover the extent of Paul Beavers' groin injury after the striker limped out of yesterday's reserve-team match at Rochdale. The 21-year-old was forced to leave the field with five minutes remaining, which ruined an otherwise encouraging performance. Beavers, who has struggled for both fitness and form, had scored Athletic's opening goal in a 2-2 draw in the Pontins League Cup. According to Ritchie, the striker was in line to be among the substitutes for Saturday's FA Cup third-round clash with Preston North End. Ritchie said: "Paul (Beavers) has looked very sharp in training over the last few weeks and was pushing for a place on the bench. Now it depends on how bad the injury is. I'm just hoping it's not too serious."
Beavers, who arrived from Sunderland in a blaze of glory after his loan spell last season, has had problem after problem. Barely had Beavers signed than he injured his Achilles in a League defeat at Gillingham. Since recovering from that setback, Beavers has struggled to rediscover the form of last season. Now at a time when it looked as though Beavers was winning his battle comes a new headache. Also sitting out yesterday's game was young striker Ryan Sugden who was suffering from a heavy cold. Craig Dudley, meanwhile, is on schedule to return in Saturday's cup-tie following a thigh strain.
Neil Adams (hamstring) and Richard Graham (back) won't be ready, though. Adams is close to fitness and will have a run out in the reserves next week at Birmingham, but Graham has been told he needs more rest. Athletic were yesterday forced indoors as they began the countdown towards the weekend trip to Deepdale. Ritchie said: "All this rain is not great for preparation. The pitches are boggy and there is surface water about, but we are getting round it. "We have three training pitches, so we rotate them as best we can. But we are also trying not to wreck them for the rest of the season."