Oldham Athletic

Philliskirk on cup defeat

Latics' Head of Youth Tony Philliskirk could not fault the effort and commitment of his players after they bowed out of the FA Youth Cup following a 2-0 second-round defeat at home to Coventry City. They played the Sky Blues with a much-depleted side, though Chris Sutherland's return from first-team duty gave them a lift. "I was proud of my lads in adversity and they gave a good account of themselves," he said. Philliskirk (pictured) added the game mirrored their season as a whole as they enjoyed plenty of play, but lacked a cutting edge in the final third. He explained: "I look on it as a missed opportunity because we had chances, but were unable to take them. "We gave ourselves a mountain to climb conceding a goal in the second minute. "There were long periods of the first half when we were in the game and we missed one or two reasonable chances which has been the story of our season. "We deserved to be level at the break and, though we didn't play as well in the second half, we still had one or two scoring opportunities."