Micky Mellon admitted that he’s cautiously optimistic about the next few months at Boundary Park following recent performances, but doesn’t want his side to get too carried away as we approach the busy Christmas period.
It’s been a great week for Micky’s side, starting off with a solid 1-0 victory over Woking, before following it up with an emphatic 4-1 demolition of second placed Barnet in North London.
Those two wins have extended Latics unbeaten streak in the league to four games, but the 51-year-old was keen to reiterate that he wants to see these kinds of performances on a regular basis.
“Since we first came in the door we’ve continuously tried to improve the group, moving towards the team we want to see.
“I’ll keep on saying that because it’s important that we all remain patient and understand that we’re going through a process, and it needs to be done.
“But we will keep working hard so we keep moving the team and this football club forward.
“We were on the grass this morning, and it was all about getting them prepared best for tomorrow, making sure we’re ready to go at Boundary Park.”
With 25 games of the season to go, Micky knows that there’s still plenty of football to be played, and a plethora of points to be won, or lost.
Sitting in 10th, Latics are within striking distance of the play-offs, and go into Saturday’s game two points behind Altrincham in seventh.
A good run of results could see Oldham cement their place in the top seven ahead of the Christmas double header against Hartlepool, but Micky admitted that he doesn’t want the team to get too carried away, too early.
“I’m cautious to make a big deal out of results or progress until we see it on a consistent basis.
“Consistency is the true sign of progress, and a big part of what we want to do.
“It’s no good having just one good performance and letting things dip in the next game.
“We’ve got to produce consistent performances that we can rely on as a group, it has to be a certain type of performance which works really well.
“So despite recent results, we can’t rest now, we’ve got to keep pushing forward and keep improving.”
Due to injuries and suspensions, Latics have had to operate with a new-look centre back pairing of Harrison McGahey and Charlie Raglan, with Shaun Hobson suffering from an illness and Liam Hogan being suspended.
Injuries to Devarn Green and Alex Reid have seen Dan Ward and Mike Fondop given opportunities, although Green has since recovered, starting the fixture against Barnet.
It’s a nice problem for Micky to have, with such talent on the bench at his disposal should he need it.
You’d struggle to argue against the claim that Mikey’s made the most of his time back in the team, especially following his performance against Barnet, which he capped off with a superb goal.
“I’ll always consider every player that’s here at the club because at the end of the day they’ve been brought in to play first-team football for Oldham, otherwise, why do we employ them?
“So we’ll consider anyone who we think will give us an opportunity of winning a game, and we’ll put a team together of players who give us the best chance of doing that.
“Ideally the best chance of doing that on a regular basis.
“James and Mikey have been praised a lot, and quite rightly so because both of them were excellent on Wednesday.
“But it’s important to highlight the performances of the midfield players, the centre backs, full-backs, and wide men, they’re sometimes unsung heroes in performances.
“Their performances allowed the frontmen to take all the headlines and everything that goes with it.
“It was a huge team effort and they would be the first to say that, but it’s great to see both of your strikers scoring because at the end of the day you need to score goals.