Shez keeps the faith

JOHN SHERIDAN . . .belief.

ATHLETIC will have to defy the sceptics if they are to maintain their early-season bid for promotion.

That’s the view of manager John Sheridan, who admits his team are going through a dip in form after taking two points out of the last nine.

Weekend results were kind to Athletic after they lost at Stockport – Leicester snatched a last-minute win, but elsewhere in the top seven Millwall, Leeds and Carlisle were all beaten while Scunthorpe and Walsall drew.

Sheridan’s men stand third in the table, yet he says the wider footballing public are writing them off.

He explained: “I think people outside Oldham are expecting us to drop down the league, so we’ve got to prove them wrong.

SLIPPED

“As manager I believe we’ll stay up there and we’re as good as any team in the division, but it’s easy to fall flat on your face.

“You can start to lose ground if you go two or three games without a win. It can start to catch up with you.

“We’ve been top and just slipped down a bit. That has happened before during my time as manager, but I have confidence in my players.

“We’ve lost one game, and it was very disappointing, but at the end of the day we were unbeaten in our first eight.

“I’ve been happy with the players this season and I’ve got the belief, even if other people haven’t.”

Sheridan’s reference to a previous stint in top spot went back to the 2006/07 campaign, his first at the helm.

After a poor start, Athletic climbed stealthily up League One and reached the summit in early February.

They only lasted two weeks as a run of four straight losses returned them to the pack, where they stayed before losing to Blackpool in the play-offs.

Last term saw them hit bottom place in September, but they eventually finished eighth despite a massive pile-up of injuries.




LEICESTER are the bookies’ favourites to win the League One title, with Leeds close behind in the betting. Athletic are available at 12/1.






Double joy for Liam



LIAM DAWSON hit a double for Athletic’s youth team as they cruised past Accrington Stanley.



The 17-year-old scored a goal in each half, including a long-range free-kick, and Ryan Brooke was also on target in the comfortable 3–0 win.