Manager Frankie Bunn felt his side put in their best performance of the season but lacked that killer instinct in front of goal as Latics fell to a narrow defeat to Newport County AFC.
Tyreeq Bakinson scored midway through the second half as Oldham couldn't quite get the breakthrough they were after despite several key chances throughout the match.
Nevertheless, Bunn was proud with his team’s performance: “I feel that's the best we’ve played so far this season, I thought tactically we were spot on for the first time we encountered a team playing three at the back and I just felt comfortable throughout.” He said.
“Perhaps a little bit of anxiety, quality at times and choosing wrong decisions was the difference, but I was pleased with the way we kept plugging away.
“Newport made it difficult for us the way they defended in numbers, but that might be the case now we've got a name for ourselves in this league and I thought we did everything but score.”
Newport were slowing the game down, making the flow of Latics’ play break up throughout the contest, but Bunn expects more teams to do that.
“We might encounter more of this as we improve and get better, I think they tried to slow the game down because we like to play with tempo and play quick.” He commented.
“We’ve noticed that on numerous occasions now where teams try and slow down against us, it’s something we're going to have to negate and think about.
“We're still a young side, we're not the finished article, but I was proud of them and all it was missing was a goal today.”
Oldham now have a week to rest and recuperate before the trip to Grimsby Town next week where the side will be looking to bounce back quickly.
“We've had a tough 6 weeks and we're at that stage where they might need a breather and ease off them a little bit.
“We’ll still doing work, but more tactically based instead of the hard work side of the game, so I think we need to regroup, see how we are and we'll take it from there.”
Next up Latics travel to Grimsby Town, tickets are still available and on general sale.
To purchase tickets online click here.
Alternatively, they can be purchased at the ticket office which reopens tomorrow (Monday, September 10) at 9:00am.