Oldham Athletic manager John Sheridan is looking to build on the draw with Sheffield United, but expects a tough game when they take on Southend United.
In the last five visits to Roots Hall, Latics have won four and drawn one, but despite that, John Sheridan believes it will be a difficult game.
“They’re a good team and they're going really well in the league this year they’ve got a real good, experienced manager.
“The record over the years doesn't count for anything, they're a strong outfit and they’ve got some good players upfront, they're a threat and we know what’s required.
“We go there and try and do what we’ve been doing in the league: working our socks off and hopefully when we get chances and make chances we take them.”
Last Saturday Latics were held to a 1-1 draw with league leader Sheffield United at SportsDirect.com Park.
Sheridan believes his side will build on that result: “We’re doing alright ourselves, I think Browny [Phil Brown] will expect a tough game from us so hopefully we’ll give him one.
“After Saturday, where I felt we did really well against the best team in the league, I thought we performed really well, I think we were the better team. Hopefully that gives us confidence to go, knowing that we can do it again against Southend.”
Forward Aaron Amadi-Holloway and defender Rob Hunt were not available for the last game but the manager is hopeful that they’l be back soon: “They’ve very, very close.
“Whether Saturday’s too early, we’ll just wait and see but they’re more or less [there], but is it the right time to put them back in? It might be too early for them.
“I’m thinking we’ve got two home games after that and I know which games I’d rather have them for, so I just want to make sure they feel right.
“I’ve got Macca [Ryan McLaughlin] back and Aidey [Aiden O’Neill] back so it doesn't matter what team I’m going to pick, I feel as though we’re going to be strong enough to get a result.”
Brian Wilson is not fit for the game against the Shrimpers. He picked up an achilles injury and was forced to come off at half time against Sheffield United but the defender has returned to training.
Earlier this week, Captain Peter Clarke signed a two and a half year contract extension and said he was optimistic about the future.
However, the gaffer knows the team is only focused at the moment on staying in the Sky Bet League One.
Sheridan said: “Our aim purely is to make sure we’re in this division and then we move on for next season and hopefully we’ll be stronger in this division next season.
“I don’t want to look too far ahead because there’s still a lot of points to play for, a lot of tough games coming up, teams winning in and around the bottom.
“I don’t want to jump the gun and say ‘we’re going to do this do that’ because I know what could happen, so we’ll just carry on what we’re doing.”
Latics take on Southend United at Roots Hall, 3pm on Satuday, April 1.