Born winner

Oldham Athletic new signing James Wesolowski

Wesolowski leads by example — Dickov
COMBATIVE midfielder James Wesolowski, who is set to make his debut at home to Carlisle United tonight (7.45pm kick-off), will bring a winning mentality to Athletic.

Manager Paul Dickov spoke of his delight in landing the 23-year-old Australian on a free transfer from Peterborough and will thrust him straight into the line-up for the Carling Cup clash at Boundary Park.

Wesolowski secured a release from his contract with Posh — the club he played for 29 times last season, helping them to promotion through the play-offs — to allow him to reunite with Dickov, who is also hoping to bring in a new striker today.

“For starters, Jimbo is a winner,” said the Athletic manager upon completing a one-year deal.

“He is only 23 still, but he has a lot of experience behind him already.

“One thing you will get with him is that win, lose or draw, he will give you everything he has got. He leads by example.

“He held a steady place in a team that got promotion last year and we are delighted to have got him.

“It was looking like it would have to be a loan rather than a permanent deal, but he got things sorted at his end.

“There was competition for him, but I knew Jim as a kid at Leicester and his attitude is fantastic.”

Wesolowski, a former Australia under-20 international, made 58 appearances at the Walkers Stadium after coming through the youth ranks.

As for tonight’s game, Athletic have gone eight consecutive ties in the Carling, Johnstone's Paint and FA Cup competitions without making it past the first-round stage and Dickov is emphasising the need to put a stop to that miserable sequence.

“Greg (Abbott, the Carlisle manager) will be saying the same thing to his players, that Saturday has gone and that it is a long season,” added Dickov, who welcomes back winger Filipe Morais from suspension.

“We want to win, for lots of different reasons.

“One of them is that we haven’t won a cup match for a long time. I want that to change.”

A total of seven substitutes, as opposed to the five for league matches, can be named.

Athletic (probable, 4-4-2): Cisak; Lee, Diamond, Mvoto, Black; Morais, Furman, Wesolowski, Taylor; Smith, Reid. Subs (from): Gerrard, Winchester, Carr, Mellor, Millar, Brooke, Bembo, Burns.


CARLISLE manager Greg Abbott was left less than impressed by his side’s efforts in an unexpected 3-0 home hammering by Notts County on Saturday.
The Cumbrians had a positive pre-season, seeing off Middlesbrough and Bradford among others, before the wheels came off at Brunton Park.

Out for Carlisle are centre-back Lubo Michalik, who is in Solvakia’s squad for their friendly in Austria tomorrow, right-back Frank Simek (hip) and Paddy Madden (foot). Danny Livesey, Andy Welsh and Rory Loy look set to come in.

“If they have got any pride about their own performances and team display, I don't think we will need to say too much at Oldham,” said Abbott of his side.

“We don’t want to keep going on looking for wins. We need to get that first win straight away. Saturday rocked us massively, but a win in the cup and a good draw would be fantastic and would give us a confidence boost.”