OLDHAM ATHLETIC 0
Northampton Town 1 (Russell 66)
By Stu Vose at Boundary Park

Att: 4,870 (335 away)

Latics' problems continue to deepen as a single Alex Russell goal against the run of play condemned them to a place in the League One relegation zone and earned Northampton their first away win of the season.

The hosts created a number of excellent opportunities -- particularly through Craig Davies -- but were denied a goal by a rather blunted cutting edge in a game John Sheridan billed as a "must-win".

The scene seemed set for the sucker punch, and it duly arrived when the seemingly impotent visitors found the net with their only shot of the game, Alex Russell firing home Bradley Johnson's tee-up with aplomb -- his first touch after coming on as a substitute.

Despite carving out numerous chances before the break, the supply line dried up after Russell's killer goal, despite Shez pepping up his forward line by replacing Chris Taylor with Deane Smalley and moving the youngster up front to form a three-man strike force alongside Davies and Michael Ricketts.

With Port Vale and Gillingham both picking up wins, the result sees Latics sink to 21st in Coca-Cola League One ahead of three difficult away trips, and Sheridan revealed he is in agreement with some fans who voiced their frustration at the end of the game:

"At the end of the day I'll keep on going and going, and I don't mind criticism," he said.  "I expect people to be upset, and I'm upset because we had a good season last year and I want to do better this year.

"But we're not and don't look like doing so, so I need to sort it out and that's down to me.  I will take any criticism whatsoever."

But it was Latics who had made the brighter start, and defender Neal Trotman almost marked his first league appearance of the season with a goal after just five minutes when he thumped Andy Liddell's corner just over the bar.

John Sheridan's side were enjoying the majority of the possession but struggling to generate scoring chances, but Craig Davies was kicking himself after missing a golden chance 21 minutes in.

Davies hared down on goal after latching onto Michael Ricketts' superb reverse pass, but could only roll the ball wide with two defenders on the line after successfully rounding Cobblers keeper Mark Bunn.

With Latics upping the pressure in the final 15 minutes before half time, Davies came close again when he rolled his man well to sprint onto Neal Eardley's feed, only to blast his shot against the stanchion behind the goal.

The game seemed to be following the familiar pattern of plenty of chances but no cutting edge, and Ricketts saw another home chance go begging when Bunn pulled off a decent reaction block to beat out his powerful close-range header from a Taylor corner.

Boss Sheridan has been hit with a number of defensive injury problems over the last week, and it appears he may have another to add to the list when Reuben Hazell was replaced by returnee Stefan Stam at the break.

And his problems worsened when the Cobblers punished their hosts with a devastating counter-punch of their own to steal the points.

Andy Kirk's persistence in the corner allowed him to slip the ball inside to Bradley Johnson, who turned his man before steering the ball back towards the onrushing Russell just outside the area. Russell hadn't even touched the ball since coming on as a sub, but stepped up to bury a firm effort past a helpless Marlon Beresford.

The goal knocked the stuffing out of Latics -- whose four home defeats this season have all come courtesy of 1-0 scorelines -- and they struggled to create any real chances of note after Russell's intervention, substitute Deane Smalley perhaps coming closest when he headed Ryan Bertrand's free kick just over the bar.

Barring the goal, keeper Marlon Beresford had been a virtual spectator throughout, but he was forced into two good saves to prevent the Cobblers from bagging a second. The on-loan Luton man first did well to save Andy Kirk's close-range header down low, and then got down well to gather Ryan Gilligan's snapshot from the right.

Michael Ricketts summed up his side's frustrating afternoon when he blazed an effort wide from a decent position -- and manager John Sheridan is demanding a big improvement from his team on Tuesday night against a bang-in-form Nottingham Forest side.

The final word is left to Shez, who questioned the heart of some of his players and pledged: "I will turn this around."

Team Stats

Latics: Beresford, Eardley (C), Bertrand, Trotman, Hazell (Stam, 46), Liddell, Taylor (Smalley, 71), Kalala (Allott, 71), Kilkenny, Ricketts, Davies.

Subs Not Used: McDonald, Wolfenden.

Booked: None.

Sent Off: None.

Northampton: Bunn, Crowe, Jackman (Jones, 65), Hughes, Doig (C), Kirk, Burnell (Russell, 65), Bradley Johnson, Gilligan, Dowman, Larkin (Hubertz, 46).

Subs Not Used: Brett Johnson, Dunn.

Booked: Burnell (45), Hughes (78).

Sent Off: None.

Referee: Mr A Bates
Assistant: Mr M Foley
Assistant: Mr G Mellor
Fourth Official: Mr I Siddall