Emotions running high

The Latics star writes every week for Chron Sport

FRUSTRATION, disappointment, anger – I am sure every Latics fan is suffering one of these emotions right now.

If you are feeling like a lot of the players, you’ll probably have all three...

The worst part about being a footballer is losing, and this is where players and supporters are on the same wavelength: whether it’s your childhood team or your job, you automatically have a passion for winning.

We suffered a second successive 1-0 defeat at Port Vale last week. It was the same scenario, brilliant between the two penalty areas, but conceding another sloppy goal and failing to make an impact in the attacking third.

Every week we come off the field scratching our heads, wondering how we haven’t got anything from a match. It is becoming a regular occurrence that needs to be halted fast.

Lee Johnson is a passionate manager who wants to do well for the club, fans and for himself. Most importantly, he wants his players to progress and express themselves and enhance their reputations as professionals.

Being told a few home truths after the match, with a lot of constructive criticism and an open floor to air our own opinions was a necessary measure – none of which I can reveal.

We can’t dwell on what has happened because we can’t change it. What we can do is make every effort to put it right in the coming fixtures and they don’t come much better then against two sides who were relegated from the Championship last season, Peterborough and Wolves.

These teams are challenging at the right end of this division with fantastic squads and good budgets for this level, but having already come up against everyone in Sky Bet League One so far with the exception of MK Dons, I haven’t seen anything to be fearful of.

Granted that little bit of luck which has deserted us on numerous occasions during this campaign, I am confident the tide will turn in our favour.

There are still 60 points up for grabs. That’s plenty to play for, starting tomorrow.