Captain Peter Clarke was happy to be back fit and playing for Oldham Athletic after an injury ruled him out for the opening three games.
Clarke returned to the starting XI as Latics beat local rivals Macclesfield Town 3-1 and the central defender was delighted to be back out at Boundary Park.
“It’s nice to be fit and available and nice to be back out there playing again.” Clarke said.
“It's what it’s all about, the rigors of pre-season and the off-season training programmes to get back out there on a Saturday afternoon and do what I enjoy most.”
Clarke made his 700th career appearance on Saturday, an achievement that he is proud of.
“700, who'd have thought that, certainly 20 years I wouldn’t but it’s nice to have made that many.” He commented.
“It's something for when I finish I can look back on and be quietly proud of it.
“But, more importantly it was nice to get the win and especially with it being the first win of the season.”
He was also full of praise for his team mates for digging in and grinding out the result once Macclesfield started to put pressure on the Latics goal.
“I thought we were the better side, we started very brightly, and we kept doing the things that had got us into good positions into good areas and got ourselves in front.
“We knew there was going to be a reaction after half time because we dominated the first half, which there was, but then we scored the second which was nice gave us some breathing space.
“It was disappointing to concede, and it gave them some impenitence, but we stuck to our task and weathered what they threw at us well and we then got the goal at the end.”
Oldham only managed to win eight home games in the league last season and Clarke is hoping that the side can turn Boundary Park into a tough place to visit for away sides.
“We want to make it a regular thing where we're winning games and we want to make Boundary Park a tough place to come.
“We want to make it a really good atmosphere and a fortress where teams don’t like playing and we win games.”