Oldham Athletic defender Anthony Gerrard is enjoying his return to the starting 11 after performances that ‘weren’t good enough’ by his own standards.
The 31-year-old’s first league start since the defeat at Rotherham United in September came against local rivals Rochdale on Saturday when Latics won 3-1.
The experienced centre back also helped his side to keep their second clean sheet in the league so far this season on Tuesday night when they were held 0-0 by AFC Wimbledon.
On his return to the side, Gerrard said: “It’s been nice to be honest, I’ve enjoyed being back and playing with the lads.
“It’s been strange going from calling him ‘Richie’ to ‘Gaffer’ but I think once the appointment was made that boundary had to be set.
“I think for me not playing was a long time coming, I hadn’t been good enough for the previous manager so that was a bit of a rocket that I needed to get myself in gear.
“I’ve been training well, I’ve been training hard and every opportunity I’ve had, I have taken: Crewe, Newcastle, Rochdale at the weekend and also AFC Wimbledon.
“I thought we were unfortunate to concede against Rochdale, I think that’s the first time in a number of games we’ve conceded a silly goal really so I’d class that as a clean sheet even though we conceded I don’t think they cut us open, it was down to an individual error.
“We’re all working for each other, everyone knows their role and if certain players step out of position we know when to cover.
“I think the way we are playing also helps us, it takes a lot of pressure off the defenders the way we are keeping the ball and retaining possession.
“It’s going really good at the minute, I think there’s a lot more improvement to come from us and hopefully we can push and show what we’re capable of in the latter part of the season.
“Hopefully this weekend we can pick the points up and keep on this little bit of momentum that we’ve got going, we’ve had a few stumbling blocks but the momentum is still there and we’re picking up points.”
Oldham Athletic take on Gillingham at Priestfield Stadium on Saturday, November 25, 3:00pm kick off.