24 December 2003
By David Lovett
IT'S
Christmas and all the trimmings tomorrow for Wrexham goalkeeper Andy Dibble –
after training!
The big Welshman is shunning a day off to put in some extra work before the
Boxing Day derby at Stockport County, 3.00.
Manager Denis Smith is giving the rest of his squad tomorrow off, but Dibble,
38, said: "I'll be trainings usual in my back garden! At my age I need to be
training a little often and obviously Christmas is so important to us in terms
of points up for grabs.
“I want to be at my very best for the games at Stockport and home to Blackpool
on Sunday. That involves some training on Christmas Day and once that’s over I
can get stuck into the turkey!
Smith said: “Dibbs’ knows what is best for him. He can take Christmas Day off
like the rest of the lads if he wishes. If he prefers to do a bit of work on his
own, I’m also happy with that. Andy’s been in the game a long time and knows
what is best for him and his body.”
Dibble said: “It's just something I’ve always tended to do in recent years. I
know I can tighten up after training if I give it a miss the next day. I’ll just
do a light work out tomorrow – and I know what I’d like for Christmas!
VERY NICE
“Maximum points from our two games from the early new year one against Sheffield
Wednesday would be very nice. But if Santa can only bring us seven of those
points we’ll settle for that.”
Dibble will meet his team at Edgeley Park on Friday. "I only live 15 minutes
from Stockport’s ground and, of course, I was there for a while as a player. I
got a great reception from Stockport supporters although I didn’t play in the
LDV Vans Trophy. I thought that was very nice and it just goes to show some fans
at my former clubs do like me. I wonder what went wrong at Hartlepool!”
Dibble was pelted with coins when he returned to Hartlepool last season. He was
also given some stick in the 2-0 defeat at the Victoria Ground this season.
All that, however, is water off Dibble’s back. “I don’t let things like that get
to me,” he said. “That’s why I’ve really stayed in the game so long. I really
enjoy every aspect of it, from training to playing.
“I’ve done the rounds a bit, but I’d love to see Wrexham get promotion again
this time if possible. We’re good enough, but the real problem area is we’re not
scoring enough goals.
“I don’t want all that to sound as if I’m keeping them all out at the other end.
The likes of Brian Carey is having a tremendous season and so are the other lads
playing in front of me.”