Latics welcome fellow Sky Bet League Two side Tranmere Rovers for the first round of this season’s Carabao Cup tonight (7:45pm KO).
Keith Curle’s side suffered defeat in their first league game of the season with veteran forward Kevin Ellison bagging the only goal of the game for Newport County at Boundary Park.
Form Guide
Unlike Latics, Rovers made a winning start to their league campaign, overcoming Walsall at Prenton Park.
Callum McManaman scored what turned out to be the only goal of the match in the 73rd minute.
The hosts had to play the final few minutes with 10 men and Chris Merrie was sent for an early bath.
Rovers reached the Sky Bet League Two play-offs last term, however, they were beaten over two legs by the eventual winners Morecambe.
Head-to-Head
Meetings: 90
Latics wins: 35
Tranmere wins: 33
Draws: 22
Scored - 125
Conceded - 127
Latics were only able to pick up one point from both of the games against their Merseyside opposition.
At Boundary Park, a goal from James Vaughan was enough to give Rovers all three points but Oldham were able to gain a spirited point in the reverse fixture.
Despite being reduced to ten men, a late Dylan Bahamboula goal made it 2-2. rescuing a point.
Davis Keillor-Dunn had given Oldham the lead in the 2nd minute but goals from Callum MacDonald and Kaine Woolery as well as Sido Jombati being sent off had Tranmere very much in control.
Watch Out For
30-year-old Callum McManaman made a fantastic start to life at Tranmere Rovers as he netted the winner on the opening day.
Born in Merseyside, McManaman played for Everton at Youth level but it was with Wigan Athletic where he made his breakthrough in football.
He netted 18 goals in 133 times for Wigan. In 2015, he joined West Bromwich Albion on a permanent deal, but he was unable to replicate the form shown at the DW stadium and he was eventually shipped off to Sunderland via an uneventful loan spell with Sheffield Wednesday.
Whilst on Wearside, he suffered the pain of relegation, with the Black Cats falling into the third tier. He would then move back to Wigan before making the move to Luton Town.
October 2020 saw him leave English football for the first team with Melbourne Victory. He joined up with current side Tranmere ahead of this season.
McManaman was clearly hotly rated as a youngster as he was capped four times at England Under 20 level.
Familiar Faces
There a few familiar faces in the Tranmere Rovers squad.
Firstly, Peter Clarke is a former Latic and he enjoyed three good seasons with the club.
The 39-year-old played 124 times for the football club where the centre half scored an impressive 15 times.
Another name that Oldham fans may remember is Emmanuel Dieseruvwe.
The 26-year old spent a brief spell on loan with Latics from Salford City but he suffered injury issues that limited his game time to just four appearances.
In The Dugout
Micky Mellon is the man in the dugout for the visitors.
Mellon is currently enjoying his second spell in charge at Prenton Park.
His first top job in the game came with Fleetwood Town. He let Town to two promotions during his tenure.
Other than a brief spell as Barnsley caretaker boss, his next job was Shrewsbury Town before his first spell with Tranmere.
His next opportunity took him north of the border with Dundee United. He left after the 2020/21 season with United finishing 9th.
Match Officials
The man in the middle is Scott Oldham.
His last fixture in charge of Latics arrived in November 2020 as we won 3-1 away at Bradford City in the EFL Cup and handed out three yellow cards.
He took charge of 33 games last campaign, handing out a total of 70 yellow cards and zero red cards.
He will be assisted by Mark Jones and Ivan Stankovic, with Andrew Miller as the Fourth Official.
Sky Bet Odds
Rovers are favourites to book their place in the second round of the league cup, priced at 7/5.
Latics are out at 7/4 to make it into the next round.
If the game is level after 90 minutes, it will go to penalties and you can get odds of 23/10 for that to be the case.
Please gamble responsibly by clicking here. For more information visit: www.begambleaware.org
How To Follow The Game
Live commentary is only available on iFollow Latics with Roy Butterworth and Michael Brown who will be talking you through the match.
For more information, visit the iFollow Latics page by clicking here.
Alternatively, supporters can also follow the game with live updates on the club's official Twitter account: @OfficialOAFC