Latics are in a far healthier position in Coca-Cola  League One following their deserved victory against Leyton Orient at Boundary Park.

After being in the relegation place until Saturday's draw at Exeter, Latics suddenly find themselves four points clear of the drop zone and with games in hand on the teams around them.

And the win against Orient was the perfect start to a six-match sequence which many believe could well determine their destiny as the fixtures are all against teams in and around them in the table. 

Goals from Deane Smalley and Dale Stephens, the latter's first for the club, earned Latics three valuable points and left Dave Penney a contented man.

The Latics manager said: "It was an important victory as a gap had been opening up between the bottom five and the teams above them.

"We told the players they were two big games coming up against Orient and Wycombe, both teams in and around us in the table, and it was important to pick up three points from the first of them.

"I think it was a really good team performance and it was difficult to pick out any individual as they all did well and stepped up to the plate."

Penney pinpointed Smalley's goal as being pivotal in the victory as it settled the nerves and lifted confidence.

"The early goal helped and after we score you could see the players stepped up to another level and played with more confidence. We had been crying out for an early goal for a long time," he explained adding it was equally important to score the second goal early in the second half as they would have been edgey while the score remained 1-0. 

He thought the performance was not much different to Millwall and Norwich in the previous two home games - Latics lost both 1-0 - the only difference being they collected three points this time.

Penney recalled Deane Smalley and Danny Whitaker who replaced the injured Dean Furman and Jason Price who has returned to Millwall following a loan spell.

After a low-key opening, Latics went ahead in the 20th minute with a goal from Smalley who justified his recall.

Pawel Abbott released Smalley with a delightful diagonal pass and he steered a shot low past keeper Jamie Jones from the right side of the penalty area.

And they could well have built on that lead in the opening half as Jones made a splendid save to turn away Abbott's drive for a corner while Daniel Nardiello cut in from the left and flashed a shot into the side netting.

The second goal came within four minutes of the restart when man-of-the-match Chris Taylor made a deadly break and slipped a through ball to release Stephens who crashed a shot from 14 yards into the top corner of the net, a spectacular strike for his first goal for Latics.

Latics could have won by a wider margin as Smalley was twice denied further goals by super saves from Jones.

The keeper made a fine reflex save to keep out an angled header from a Stephens corner with Abbott firing the rebound wide.

Barely two minutes later Smalley struck again, but again Jones was his equal making another terrific stop low down.

The only dampener on the night was seeing loan-signing Daniel Nardiello's home debut ending prematurely after an hour  as he left the ground on a stretcher having sustained a hamstring injury.

Latics (4-4-2): Brill; Lee, Hazell, Gregan, Jacobson; Smalley, Stephens, Whitaker, Taylor (Worthington 88); Abbott (Eaves 87), Nardiello (Colbeck 59). Subs (not used): Aljofree, Black, Flahavan.

Leyton Orient (4-4-2): Jones; Purches, Mkandawire, Ashworth, Daniels; Doran (Baker 62), Chambers, Smith, Demetriou (McGleish 79); Tehoue (Jarvis 77), Scowcroft. Subs (not used): Morris, Thornton, Cave-Brown, Mike.

Referee: Mr G Eltringham.

Attendance: 3,126.