Latics show Iron will

DEAN Furman felt Athletic showed great spirit to recover a point in a feisty encounter at Scunthorpe.

A day after the departures of coaches Gerry Taggart, Paul Butler and Lee Duxbury, the writing was on the wall for the visitors at Glanford Park. Two goals down inside the first 20 minutes, few gave the visitors a prayer of gaining anything from the fixture.

The prospect of second-bottom Scunthorpe pulling to within three points of Paul Dickov’s men — with a game in hand — loomed.

But thanks to a well-taken volley by Cliff Byrne and a cheeky Jose Baxter penalty, Athletic gained an important point that maintains the six-point cushion between themselves and the Iron.

“The sending off turned the game back in Scunthorpe’s favour but when it happened, we were resolute and got bodies behind the ball,” said Furman, referring to James Wesolowski’s red card three minutes after Oldham had drawn level.

“We worked very hard and showed real togetherness — especially after the week we had. To get off that losing streak was a great feeling.

Furman says farewell to the club after the Nottingham Forest FA Cup-tie on Saturday as he leaves to join the South Africa squad ahead of the African Cup of Nations.

“It will be my last game on Saturday and it is tough to leave behind the team I am with every day,” he added. “The club means a lot to me. But when your country calls, it is very hard to turn it down.”

Furman will be missing from Athletic action at least until the end of the group stage.