Boss pleased with players’ commitment

DEAN Holden admitted Athletic didn’t carve out as many scoring chances as he would have liked against Chesterfield - but had no complaints about his side’s work ethic.

Rhys Murphy and Connor Brown went closest on a hard, rutted Oldham pitch, while at the other end, the Spireites missed a good chance through Armand Gnanduillet after Sam Clucas’s shot had hit a post. The latter was also denied by a flying stop from the impressive Joel Coleman.

The result keeps Athletic 14th in the table on 56 points, with two games to play. Chesterfield are sixth, eight points clear of nearest challengers Rochdale.

“You have to look at what you are up against,” said Holden, who was without eight players through illness and injury.

“Chesterfield have done great this season. The clean sheet for us is really good. Chesterfield were very committed. They brought on a big target man early in the game because conditions weren’t conducive to a passing game. We didn't have that luxury so had to do it slightly differently. We played some good football without creating as many chances as we would have liked.”

Athletic had the better opportunities of the opening period, and while the opposite was true after the interval, Holden felt a point each was fair.

“It was a very even game with chances for both teams. For us it’s a clean sheet and a very disciplined performance.”