Goalkeeper Paul Rachubka (pictured) could be heading back to Boundary Park after Gary Kelly was struck by another injury setback. Kelly is expected to miss the remainder of the season after rupturing ankle ligaments in training. The extent of the Kelly's injury was only discovered after a detailed examination by medical staff. It is a massive blow for the veteran, who was forced to sit out the mid part of the campaign because of a knee problem. Athletic have David Miskelly as back-up, but he has 90 minutes to convince Wadsworth that he should keep goal against Cardiff City in Saturday's promotion clash. The Northern Ireland under-21 international will get the nod if he proves his fitness in the reserves match at Sheffield United. But Wadsworth
is already making contingency plans to bring in another ‘keeper and Rachubka is expected to be high on his list.
The Manchester United youngster did an excellent job in Kelly's absence, and Athletic were keen to sign him after three months on loan. United were willing to sell the England youth international for around £300,000 but his agent said he was unsure about dropping to division two.
Athletic would have to sort out a permanent deal for Rachubka if he was return to Boundary Park. His earlier loan spell precludes Athletic from bring him back on similar terms. Miskelly is facing a race against time to get the all clear. He has been rushed back quicker than anticipated following a lengthy injury lay-off.
Monday's reserve-team appearance against Manchester United in the Manchester Senior Cup was Miskelly's first match since dislocating his shoulder against Stoke in November in his one and only first team appearance of the
season. Wadsworth will be monitoring Miskelly's progress before deciding whether he is ready to be plunged into the first team.
There is also the chance of a possible return to Boundary Park of former Latics favourite Andy Goram (pictured). He is set to return to the club for discussions on a possible short term contract that would ease the current goalkeeping crisis. Goram was born in Bury on April 13 1964. He joined Latics as a teenager on 1st July 1981 and stayed here for 7 years until the end of the 1988 season, winning the first of his 43 caps for Scotland in that spell.. After leaving Latics in 1988, Goram went on to play for Hibernian, Rangers, Motherwell, Man Utd and most recently Coventry City and was recently named Rangers Greatest Goalkeeper in a world-wide poll to find the Club's best ever players. There can be no higher acclaim than to be the fans' choice and Goram had few rivals when it came to shutting out the opposition.