Bantams battle is next on Latics' agenda

Latics travel to take on Bradford City tomorrow

Recently-appointed boss Keith Curle will bid to finally register a Latics victory at the fourth time of asking at Yorkshire rivals Bradford tomorrow.

Curle, who replaced the sacked Harry Kewell earlier this month, has drawn two away games and seen his new side beaten 4-2 at home by Southend since he arrived at Boundary Park.

Latics are destined for another lower mid-table finish this term, but that won’t stop the hard graft continuing ahead of the final 11 games of another largely disappointing campaign.

Curle said: “I know it’s difficult because a new manager has come in with a few different ideas, challenging the players, testing the players, but within that there’s an opposite side of it, which is out of possession and we need to get better out of possession.

“When we get a structure and a shape we can defend our goal and then when we do get the ball back we’ve got to be more respectful of it and we’ve got to work harder to keep it.

“We’ve got players here who do work hard, but they need to work harder to keep possession of the ball when we get in front.”

Latics led 2-0 against Southend last weekend before tumbling to another humbling defeat.

Curle’s men will come up against a familiar foe at Bradford tomorrow, in the form of striker Danny Rowe.

He left Boundary Park for an undisclosed fee in January and has since scored four goals in 11 appearances for the Bantams.

Latics return home to host Exeter City on Tuesday night, March 23.

Meanwhile, Latics midfielder Dylan Bahamboula has been selected to represent his national team, Congo, in their upcoming African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Bahamboula will leave after the league fixture tomorrow and will return at the start of April.

This two-week period will enable ‘Moyo’ to feature in games at home to Senegal (March 26) and away at Guinea-Bissau (30th) in their crucial final two fixtures of the Cup of Nations qualification group stage.

Bahamboula is also the Sky Bet League Two Goal of the Month winner for February, after he received 57% of the public vote following his screamer in the recent fixture at Tranmere Rovers.

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