Manager Stephen Robinson is confident Latics can reach the third round of the Checkatrade Trophy as he takes his side to the Banks’s Stadium to face Walsall tomorrow night.
Athletic finished second in Group D and were handed an away tie against the Saddlers in the second round.
The winners of this game face Sky Bet League Two side Mansfield Town in the next round of the competition and the gaffer believes his side can beat anybody in this competition.
He said: "We are confident we can go there and take something out of the game. There has to be a result on the evening so we will be positive.
"We have Freddie Ladapo back fit again so that gives us another option up front.
"Walsall are a good footballing side. They have scored and created goals but we know that everyone in this division is beatable.
“The first and foremost is the passion and desire, we want the same as they showed on Saturday.
“In truth I didn’t think we passed the ball well and it was the first time in weeks that has happened so I’m looking for an improvement in that.
“We have set our standards in terms of the aggression we need to show to win football matches.”
Robinson gave us an update on injury news and inclusion for two youth team players.
“He had a shot of adrenaline to stop the bleeding on Saturday so that has helped. We have a couple of doubts ahead of the game.
“Lee Erwin is struggling with a slight groin injury so we have added Brendy Glackin to the squad who is a lad from the youth team who has been scoring a lot of goals and doing very.
“Dylan King is also in the squad again so they may feature at some stage.”
The manager appreciates the support of the fans, and hopes to repay them tomorrow with a win.
“It costs a fortune to travel up and down the country,” he commented. “People come away from work early to come and support them and I felt on Monday we let them down completely.
“I think on Saturday we pulled that back a bit, not enough but, we brought it back and if the players show that bit of desire then people make them sacrifices to support them and I think that showed on Saturday.”
Watch the full interview on Latics PlayerHD.