Latics will be looking to make it three home wins in a row when they welcome Forest Green Rovers to Boundary Park tomorrow (3pm KO).
Oldham will be without club captain David Wheater who is suspended for one game following his red card in Tuesday’s defeat at Exeter.
Form Guide
Oldham will need to bounce back from two defeats on the road last week, whilst the visitors are without a win in six.
Rovers’ last six:
- Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Salford City
- Macclesfield Town 2-1 Forest Green Rovers
- Forest Green Rovers 1-4 Carlisle United
- Grimsby Town 2-2 Forest Green Rovers
- Forest Green Rovers 1-2 Walsall
- Forest Green Rovers 2-3 Port Vale
Head-to-Head
Latics are still in search of their first competitive win over Forest Green. The two clubs have met on three occasions resulting in two draws and one win for Rovers. That win came in the first game of this season when Taylor Allen scored the only goal of the game.
League Story So Far
Rovers enjoyed a good start to the season and particularly impressed during September where they went unbeaten, this included a 4-0 thrashing of Salford City.
Their impressive start to the campaign carried on and they lost just three of their opening 16 league games.
It has been hard for Forest Green to maintain their strong start though and they are in a poor run of late, having won just two of their last 15 games. This has seen them drift away from contention for promotion for the time being.
Forest Green Rovers are currently 10th in the Sky Bet League Two table, six points off the play-off places and nine points above Latics.
What We Said
Dino Maamria: "I think it is good to be back at home, we can be more expansive at home. Also, our pitch is in really good nick, we can play the type of football that we can play.
"It’s always tough when you have too many away journeys in consecutive away games. It put the pressure on but what we have to do now is regroup and go back to what we’ve been doing well. Our last two home games have been brilliant performances from us."
What They Said
Mark Cooper: "The players are working really, really hard but we’ve got to try and channel that in to probably working a bit smarter rather than just running for the sake of it.
"We had 17 shots the other night again to seven. So, we are doing something right. It seems to be as soon as the opposition come into our half they score so we have to try and get that little bit of confidence but we have to go back to basics and defend properly."
Watch Out For & Familiar Face
Former Latics midfielder Carl Winchester is in fine form of late for Rovers.
Winchester, who is captain, has scored five goals in Forest Green’s last seven matches including a brace in their midweek game against Port Vale. The Northern Irish midfielder’s performances have ensured that he has been a constant feature throughout the season for Rovers but it is only of late that he has showcased his goalscoring abilities. This is already his joint highest season for goals in the league and he will be looking to build on his recent run of good form.
The 28-year old’s name will be familiar to Latics fans as he played for the club between 2010 and 2017 making over 100 appearances in that time.
Born in Belfast, Winchester started his career with Linfield but soon won a move to England following a successful trial with Latics. He made his debut in November 2010 in an FA Cup tie with Accrington Stanley shortly following this with a league debut two weeks later in a 1-0 win over Dagenham and Redbridge. His first goal for the club came on the last day of the 2010/11 season.
Winchester earnt praise amongst Latics fans for his energetic style and also his versatility. He played at right back, right midfield and centre midfield during his time at Boundary Park. He also showed excellent form in the 2014/15 season, a season that appeared to be a real breakthrough for the player and as a result was awarded a new contract.
After his time with Oldham, Winchester joined Cheltenham Town on a free transfer in January 2017 and then went on to join his current club in May 2018. He established himself as a regular in the Rovers’ side, featuring 45 times in the league in his debut season.
In The Dugout
Mark Cooper is the man in the Forest Green Rovers dugout.
Cooper has been somewhat of a journeyman in his career as a player and as a manager. His first job in management was with Tamworth, a club that he represented over 100 times as a player. He left the club by mutual consent in January 2007 with the team at the foot of the Conference. His next job was with Kettering Town where he enjoyed a good start, winning the Conference North.
His successes with the Poppies earnt him the chance to manage then Championship side Peterborough United. He only lasted 13 games with the Posh and his next job took him to the North East where he took the reins at Darlington. He had brief spells with Kettering and AFC Telford United before joining the coaching staff at Swindon Town where he would eventually become boss. He guided Swindon to an eighth-place finish and then the next season took them to Wembley in the League One play-off final.
Prior to becoming manager at Forest Green, Cooper had a short stint at Notts County.
Match Officials
Marc Edwards will be the man in charge tomorrow afternoon for the Sky Bet League Two fixture (3pm KO).
The referee has officiated 22 games this season, brandishing 58 yellow cards and a single red card.
His last Oldham game was back in September when he took charge of the 1-0 defeat at Carlisle.
He will be assisted by Gareth Mellor and Anthony Moore with Geoffrey Liddle as the Fourth Official.
Sky Bet Odds
Forest Green are the slight favourites going into this game at 6/4 whilst Latics are 17/10 to make it three wins on the bounce at Boundary Park.
The game to end level is priced at 11/5.
Oldham to win and both teams to score has been price boosted to 11/2.
Ticket Information
Please note the North Stand is also closed for this fixture. An official update will be provided once it is back open.
If you are a season ticket or match ticket holder in the North Stand whilst this situation prevails, your tickets will be valid for the Main Stand and Rochdale Road End. To avoid inconvenience, you will not need to move your seat at the Ticket Office, you will gain access via the relevant turnstiles within these stands.
Travelling supporters will need a ticket before going to the turnstile for tomorrow's encounter. Cashless entry is in operation for the Chadderton Road End and as such should visit the Ticket Office on Furtherwood Road.
Admission prices are available by clicking here, whilst a Visitors Guide can be found here and a First Time Guide is available here.
How To Follow The Game
If you can't attend the fixture in person at Boundary Park, live commentary is available for all subscribers on iFollow Latics with Mike Leyland and Roy Butterworth who will be talking you through the match.
The iFollow video match pass is only available for overseas residents.
To subscribe for the fixture, click here.
Alternatively, supporters can also follow the game with live updates on the club's official Twitter account: @OfficialOAFC.