da cassino：
da dobrowin： Oldham Athletic will be aiming to secure their third successive victory when they host Leyton Orient tonight at Boundary Park. Should Athletic secure three points they will find themselves in the top 12, a feat that appeared almost impossible only last week.
After a terrible run of four losses against struggling opposition, Paul Dickov’s men headed north to Hartlepool aiming to arrest control of their perilous descent towards the bottom four in League One. A stylish, cavalier approach was rejected by Dickov. It was never going to be a memorable game. Instead Dickov ordered his young players to play with heart and spirit. In the end, a priceless 1-0 victory was their just-rewards for such a determined effort.
Latics then recorded their second win in five days as they comfortably beat Bournemouth – again 1-0 – although the score line ought to have been more. However when dark mist descends on an out-of-sorts team, managers, players and fans alike often except anything as long as it results in three points.
Such a positive week has acted as a much-required anecdote for the players’ confidence, but the teams’ injury woes worsened when Reece Brown, brother of Sunderland defender Wes Brown, injured his ankle and is unlikely to play tonight. The Manchester Utd teenager was switched to defence against Hartlepool, putting in a Man of the Match performance in the process.
However, there was some good news on Saturday when Bradley Diallo returned to first team action, giving Dickov an added option in defence.
Nine points now separate Oldham and the relegation zone and Dickov is determined to look up rather than down, remain positive rather than edgy. He reiterated his desire to finish in the top half this season, saying: “We have momentum and, regardless of other results tonight, if we win we will move into the top half of the table which has always been our aim.”
Whilst words mean nothing without performances and results, the Scot’s words send out a positive message to his players. It is up to them to respond.
One player performing well at present is French midfielder Youssouff M’Changama, who only signed for Oldham a couple of weeks ago. However, with injuries to key players blunting Athletic’s creative edge, the youngster has so far impressed with his technical ability.
Tonight’s visitors are currently on a run of one win in eight league matches, which should inspire Athletic to add to their points tally. Orient will be tough opponents, though. Their poor form of late has ended their surprising Play-off ambitions, so quality will definitely step off the coach tonight.
Barry Hearn, Orient’s chairman, deserves much credit. He resisted modern-day football’s ruthless lure to sack a manager, instead allowing Slade to improve the club’s disastrous start to 2011/12, which saw them without a win in their opening ten league games. Despite drastically improving and then fading again, Slade should see his side to safety this year.
The O’s are in a very similar position confidence-wise to that of Latics only last week, and so Dickov should expect a tough, physical encounter against a team who will surely settle for non-footballing, 1-0 win, similar to Oldham’s ambitions against Hartlepool.
Athletic have not won three consecutive league games since September 2009 but tonight presents a brilliant opportunity. But just like both Scunthorpe and Yeovil, if the performance is not good enough consistency will continue to elude Oldham they will be left with more extreme frustration.
By Oldham Athletic blogger Craig Worswick
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