Thursday, August 17th, 2001


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M i d f i e l d m a e s t r o p r im e d f o r t h e


f l i g h t Bv SUZANNE GEE


best in the country. The former England Under 21


G


skipper only has limited Premier­ ship experience, making 15 appear­ ances as Rovers were relegated in


1998-99. But the mercurial midfielder


showed he enjoyed life in the rari- fied atmosphere, even netting in a 3-1 win at Villa Park in February


that season. He has since received rave


reviews after cementing a place in the Rovers line-up in the First Division, and he said: "Were all looking forward to the start of the


season.


"Life in the Premiership should be a bit faster than what we are


. . . ,


R E A T Harwood lad David Dunn is primed to test himself against the


used to but we've been training hard for that and I'm sure we'll


adapt. "Last year, I think we had better


players than some of the other teams, so there were times when we could afford to try to get the ball off


them at every opportunity. "This year, there will be times


when we've got to stand off and let them pass it in front of you. Rovers gloriously took the top


flight by storm upon their arrival in 1992, culminating in that title win


in 1995.


But Dunn is putting safety first. "Our main aim at the moment is


.


just staying up. "I think if we get a good start


you never know what can happen, but at the minute we're just getting


our heads around it. "I'm sure if we play like we know


we can then we'll do okay. "It's just about being confident


and grabbing our opportunity with


both hands. "It's not every day you get to


play in the Premier League. "We've just got to enjoy it and do


our best. "But I don't think we are fearing


atl"The likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool are obviously the ones to watch. "But we've got to do as well as we can in every game."


TTrI,. Rovers qualified for the UEFA


Cup in their first season in the Pre­ miership - their first foray in conti­ nental competition. And after Ipswich achieved a


similar feat last term, Rovers are being touted as dark horses for


Europe. But Dunn said: "We don t want , „


to get carried away with things. "In a couple of years the gaffer


" I t 's j u s t about being confident will deiinite y will definitely be thinking of


Europe but at the moment we've just to consolidate, make sure we stay up and then do well next year. A lot will be expected of the 21-


year-old, who allies goalscoring to his range of passing and dribbling


skills. But, although one of the coun-


try's top young talents, and touted as a future England cap, Dunn knows his bread and butter comes first: "I've not set any personal tar­ gets for the new season, but I might try to beat my penalty record. "I'm just looking forward to


returning to league action and doing as well as I can for Black­


burn.


"I'll just try to carry on doing my best and if that England.place


.


comes up, then that'll be a bonus. "But I'm not looking too far for­


ward.


"That's a long way off yet ^


#


Rovers’ skipper Flitcroft relishing Manchester United showdown


Bv SUZANNE GEE son's side as an earl_y yard- telrooy. and Fhtcroft sees R


o v e r s o p e n their return to the Premiership with


a trip to Derby County


on Saturday. But Blues skipper Garry


Flitcroft cannot wait for the chance to grapple with champions Manchester United at Ewood on Wednesday night. The 28-year-old midfield


ace is used to Red domina­ tion after his spell at Maine Road, and he fears United may well seal a fourth successive title this


term. But the Bolton-born


Flitcroft is looking forward to using Sir Alex Fergu-


stick for Rovers: "Playing Manchester United at home is an incredible start for us because they're the


best. "They've set the stan­


dards and I don't think there’s anybody strong enough to stop them win­


ning it again. " I t is going to take a


really exceptional side to get anywhere close. "Maybe Arsenal, Liver­


pool, Leeds or Chelsea will run them closer than last season, but United are still


my tip to win it." United were a side feared


by all before their summer captures of Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud Van Nis-


them complementing an already world-class line-up: "They've so many wonder­ ful players like David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane and the addi­ tions of Veron and Van Nistelrooy will make them an even more potent force. "Everybody sees the skill


factor with United, but they all work so incredibly hard for each other and that's what people can overlook sometimes. "You just don't get any


time on the ball against them, they've just so many quality players that they just carve the opposition


up." But Flitcroft has no fear,


although he is anticipating a tough season ahead: "The Premiership has moved on again since we were last there in 1999 and it's an even stronger league now. "Just to get back in the Premiership is very special


... _.i_ i


for me. "I played a lot of my


football there and going to Anfield, Highbury and Stamford Bridge will be a reward for all the effort the players put in last season when we clinched promo-


tion." Rovers have added


depth to their promotion­ winning side with the addi­ tion of four new players. They spent £6.75 million on prolific Italian striker


Ciccio Grabbi from Ter- nana and invested £1.3 million in Rangers’ Turk­ ish midfielder Tugay.


Pi pp.in Souness also tied up the


loose ends to bring in Alan Mahon who joined Rovers on loan before Christmas and became a permanent fixture when completing a £1.5 million move from Sporting Lisbon in the


summer. The fourth signing is


centre half Gordon Greer who moves to Ewood from Clyde for £200,000. No major players have


left Ewood Park and so Souness goes into the sea­ son with a confident and strengthened squad.


Clarets back in the groove with rare Hillsborough victory


Bv CHRIS BODEN


groove at Sheffield Wednesday, starting the season as they ended the last - pick­ ing up three points and a clean sheet. Burnley turned in the consummate away


I Gareth Taylor celebrates Burnley’s opener


performance, soaking up early pressure before gradually taking hold of the game


and piercing the Owls rearguard. And while no-one was getting carried


away with victory over a side that looks to have a long, hard winter ahead, the perfor­ mance made you wonder why the Clarets have been totally by-passed as potential


top six material by the pundits. Even Wednesday were quoted at shorter


odds than Burnley, despite their squad


being weakened over the summer. Boss Stan Ternent has added depth to


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his squad, but he could find no place for his summer signings, bar striker Gareth Tay­ lor, who played out the last three months


on loan at Turf Moor. Setting out in a 4-4-2, as opposed to


Wednesday's 4-5-1, the Clarets had an early scare when Danny Maddix hit the post from an Ian Hendon free kick within 90 seconds, and although Gerald Sibon forced home the rebound, it was disallowed


for a push by Efan Ekoku. Burnley weathered the storm and start­


ed to play the better football once Paul Weller and Paul Cook got a foothold in the centre of midfield.


Glen Little was well marshalled by Derek Geary, and was sent over to the left


.. j ■


flank to combat Hendon. After the break Little began to have an


influence, and his burst helped fashion the opener just before the hour.


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T was as if it was May 13th at Hills­ borough on Sunday. The Clarets effortlessly slipped back into the


The ball was played out from the back


and Little moved towards goal, finding Lee Briscoe.


His back heel freed Gordon Armstrong . , .


down the left, and his pinpoint cross was superbly guided into the comer by Taylor. You sensed there would be no way back


for Wednesday, and when Sibon scythed down Little on the right of the box, referee Phil Dowd pointed to the spot. Cook's initial effort was well saved by


Chris Stringer, but with at least five Owls players encroaching in the box, a retake


was ordered. Cook won the mind game and found the


top corner. That sparked ludicrous scenes as one


Wednesday fan got on the pitch unchal­ lenged and aimed a punch at Cook, before


Ternent intervened. The fan, Carl Murphy (31) was subse­


quently charged with assault and banned from Hillsborough for life, while three other Owls supporters were charged with public order offences and banned from Hillsbor­


ough for the season. It put 6-15 p.m. kick-offs into question,


and police are now thought to be looking into the possibility of moving the time of


Manchester City's trip to Turf Moor on Bank Holiday Monday forward. Burnley entertain fancied Wimbledon on


Saturday, having recorded the double over the Dons last season.


. Greek striker Dimitri Papadopoulos is


expected back from international duty today, but Ternent will be without the sus­ pended Kevin Ball and the injured Mitchell Thomas and Graham Branch, while Paul Weller (hamstring) is also a


doubt. Pool, bowls—page 21 ■ Colt football, cricket-page 33 „ and Times sports team of Chris Baden, Craig Salmon, George Expectations are high at Shawbridge


Ambitious Blues face tough test on opening day


Bv CHRIS BODEN_______


kick-off the new campaign at Shaw­ bridge against fancied Kidsgrove Athletic on Saturday (kick-off 3


B! p.m.). Expectation is high for title hope­ ■


fuls Clitheroe after finishing runners- up last season and reaching the FA


Vase semi-final. And the Blues could not have asked


for a tougher opening day assignment. But Burgess feels his men are pre-


■ pared and champing at the bit. He is keen to deliver: "We have set


our standards last season. "If we drop below them, people will


see it as failure. "But as long as I can see progres­


sion, it won't be failure to me if we aren't unbeaten in the first 10 games, top of the league by Christmas or in the semi-final of the Vase. "People will see me as a one-hit


wonder, but I'm looking at the wider picture, and I feel sure we are going in the right direction. "Last season is a hard act to follow,.


but I feel we are good enough." He added: "We're ready for it. "I feel the squad is good enough -


it's just a case of whether they think


LUES boss Dave Burgess admits his team are jumping


____ into the cauldron as they Burgess has added former Blue


Andy Taylor and Richard Fogarty from Great Harwood and Danny Heys from St Helens, with only Neil Reynolds departing to Kendal Town. And a strong base of youth also


bodes well: "We’ve only lost one player and have a tight-knit group.


i "Team spirit is excellent and 1 m


happy with the squad. "One or two of the younger lads


have done well in pre-season as well, Chris Heslop, John-Paul Fagan and Danny Potts, who played for Burnley


United last year. "He is only 17 but was very impres­


sive at centre half against Accrington


Stanley on Saturday. "Matt Garner and Gary Jackson


are also there, and they are all Clitheroe lads who want to do well for


the club." He added: "From our opening pre­


season game against Blackburn Rovers, we have improved match by match and taken something from the


last game into the next game. "We have only won one game, but


that doesn't disturb me. "We have been creating chances and


playing well." Looking ahead at the challenge, he , „ .


said: "We have got to think we can win the title, but a lot of other teams will be thinking the same, the likes of Kidsgrove Athletic, Salford City, St Helens, Ramsbottom United, Moss-


th"Thev know they can compete with ley and Newcastle Town. , better players, and I wouldn't swap


any of their players for mine. "Perhaps I could have saved them a


lot of moneyl But we are going right into the cauldron on Saturday, and when we travel to Atherton LR on Tuesday, they will have a point to prove, that they can compete after promotion." He is looking for his strikeforce to


fire on all cylinders again, while look­ ing to learn a lesson from the master of the 1-0 win, Burnley boss Stan Ter- nent: "Neil Spencer and Lee Cryer are looking to at least match what they did last season when they scored 57


goals between them. "And if Mark Stewart and Martin


Aspinwall can continue to chip in with goals, all well and good. "My only concern is that we leaked


too many goals last time, 47 in 42 games - we need to be able to win


games 1-0 rather than 5-3. O The Blues lost their penultimate


pre-season friendly 1-0 at a full- strength Accrington Stanley on Sat­


urday. Former Bury striker Lutel James


netted a second-half winner, with Neil Spencer going close for Clitheroe. The Blues closed their preparations with a home match with Old Black-


burnians on Tuesday night. The Blues won that game 9-0 with


Lee Cryher netting four, including a first half hat-trick. Other goals came from Spencer (2), Chris Whitting- ham, John-Paul Fagan and Andy


Cowking. _ • Clitheroe have been drawn at St - last season is dead and buried."


North-West Counties’ Football


League FIXTURES Saturday


First Division Abbey Hey v Warrington


Town; Atherton Collieries v Skelmersdale United; CLITH­ EROE v Kidsgrove Athletic; Conglcton Town v Curzon Ash­ ton; Fleetwood Freeport v Nantwich Town; Glossop North End v Prescot Cables; Maine Road v St Helens Town; Newcas­ tle Town v Mossley; Salford City v Atherton Laburnum Rovers; Winsford United v Great Har­ wood Town; Woodley Sports v


Flixton. Reserve Division Atherton Laburnum Rovers v


Glossop North End; Chadderton v Squires Gate; Colne v Maine Road; Nelson v Atherton Col­ lieries; Padiham v Woodley SC; Skelmersdale United v CLITH­ EROE; Stand Athletic v Salford


City. Monday- First Division Curzon Ashton v Newcastle


Town; Flixton v Salford City; Great Harwood Town v Atherton


Collieries. Tuesday- First Division Atherton Laburnum Rovers v


CLITHEROE; Mosley v Maine Road; Prescot Cables v St Helens Town; Ramsbottom Utd v Fleet- wood Freeport; Skelmersdale United v Woodley Sports; War­


rington Town v Winsford United. Wednesday


First Division Kidsgrove Athletic v Congle-


ton Town; Nantwich Town v Glossop North End.


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