DANNY Whitaker insists that the competition for places at Boundary Park is spurring him on after an impressive start to the season.

The summer signing has made an immediate impact, helping the club come from 3-1 down to beat Millwall on the opening day, scoring a penalty in the Carling Cup shoot-out success at Rochdale, effectively shielding the back four during the 2-0 win at Leeds United, before opening his account for the club during last weekend’s 4-0 defeat of Cheltenham Town.

Whitaker had started on the bench against Millwall with Latics boss John Sheridan preferring to start with Mark Allott and Kevin Maher.

However, the introduction of Whitaker – along with Lee Hughes and Lewis Alessandra – helped spark a comeback and give Athletic the first of their three league wins thus far.

Whitaker said: "We have a big squad which is what you need if you’re going to be up there and challenging.

"The gaffer’s said to us that some players will be left out and that he wants us to take the chance when we get it.

"That’s what the three of us did against Millwall and then the gaffer put us in against Rochdale. Although we couldn’t have the same impact because we had to play with 10 men for such a long time (following Craig Davies’ red card), we stayed in for the Leeds game and then for last Saturday when we could make more of an impression. It certainly helps you to keep on top of your game when you know there’s good players like Kevin Maher waiting to come in – the same with training, it makes you more determined to stand out."

Having spent the majority of his career battling at the wrong end of the table with Macclesfield Town and Port Vale, Whitaker admitted it made a nice change to be at the other end with Athletic top of Coca-Cola League One after three games.

His partnership with Allott has proved a natural one, Allott happy to sit and defend while Whitaker can roam forward and support Hughes, Alessandra, Andy Liddell and Chris Taylor.

He said: "Mark’s obviously a good player who’s played at Oldham before and he’s easy to play with. He sits in front of the defence more than I do which suits me down to the ground and lets me play my natural game. I’ve had so many years down at the bottom end of league tables that it means it’s a nice change to be at the top."

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