Micky Mellon knows he’ll have to use the depth of his squad and its different qualities as his Latics side continue through a busy run of fixtures.
Oldham are a month into a series of Saturday-Tuesday fixtures, and with the number of games remaining now in single digits, the manager wants his squad to continue their focus on achieving results over the next six weeks.
“It’s a really important time of the year, and an exciting time of the season," Mellon said.
“We’re really pleased to be involved in the season’s run in.
“Now we’ve got to make sure we continue to do the things that have got us into this situation.
“We have a way of playing that we now understand, and it’s helping us to pick up points.
“Keeping our focus and being the best version of ourselves, trying to pick up enough points to solidify that play-off position is our clear goal.
“My message to the players now is that I want them to stay on point, stay on task, reinforcing the things we’ve done to get us to where we are.
“We want to keep the message consistent, keep the performance levels consistent, keep the levels high.
“I think I’m experienced enough now as a manager to accept that the way we play gets us results.
“It would be naive of me to change it now, from the way we have been playing, because we’ve got a tried and tested way of operating which is getting this group of players to perform, and it’s working.”
With tomorrow’s opposition, Aldershot Town, occupying the final play-off spot and sitting just a point behind Latics, Micky is aware that the game is a six-pointer, but also that every game matters, regardless of who our opponents are.
“I think all the games are really important, I think I’d be lying if I said none of them were.
“Of course, when you’re playing the teams around you, taking points off them at this stage of the season is great.
“But three points is still three points, and you’re trying to do that in every game you play, because you want to get as many points as you possibly can to get into the play-off positions.
“It’s a really exciting time for the squad, they know what’s on the horizon, but they also know they need to get results too.
“If you don’t want to be involved in this stage of a campaign then why are you involved in football.
“I’ve been involved at this end of the table and the other end, and I can tell you right now which one I’d rather be contesting!
“It takes a lot of hard work to get yourself in the position we’re in.
“We’ve got nine games to go now, but my message to the lads before our last game was make sure you make it to the next stage of the campaign.
“The next stage being the little cup competition you call the play-offs.
“I want the players to be fully focused on that.”
Micky has used his squad to its full potential, often switching players and rotating shape to avoid fatigue and injuries during this busy run.
With a wide-range of players, with diverse talents and attributes to choose from, it’s allowed Micky to maintain a consistent level of output in recent weeks.
“We’re rotating the squad a little bit because we’ve had so many games, sometimes giving a player a breather is the right thing.
“I have to give credit to the whole squad who allow us to do that, we have a good squad of quality players.
“That allows us to keep energy levels topped up, which will carry the team forward, and we’ll continue to do it as long as the Saturday Tuesday games keep coming.
“It will be nice to have a free midweek once that comes, but until then we need to remain resilient.”
