Player-quota system supported

Talks of imposing the new player-quota system which may be introduced next season will have little or no effect on Athletic. With the English game floundering, it looks increasingly likely the Football League will bring in rules to encourage the development of English talent by insisting a certain number of home-grown players must be used in every team. Support for the scheme at a recent league meeting has been considerable.

Athletic fully back the proposal and Alan Hardy said, "A lot of the finer points have yet to be finalised, such as whether there would be a specific number of home-produced players on the team sheet or simply in the squad. But there is a lot of support and it will be discussed further at the December meeting."

The Latics current senior squad contains former trainees Neal Eardley, Kelvin Lomax, Chris Taylor, Deane Smalley and Lewis Alessandra.