Latics skipper Dean Furman spoke to the official Oldham website ahead of his side's League One game against Carlisle at, according to Furman, a difficult Brunton Park venue :
“It is a difficult place to go, they have had a good start to the season, I know a lot of their boys and they are in good spirits after their win the other night. So, I think we have got to remember what happened to us last year, we were 2-0 up there and really comfortable and we ended up drawing 2-2, so we have got to keep that in the back of our mind and a few of us might have a personal little vendetta to take with us up there.
“I lived with Rory Loy during our time at Rangers, he is in great form at the moment, playing just off the strikers and he got a goal in their fantastic win the other night. The texts have been flowing this week, but once we are out on the pitch it is strictly business and there could be a few tasty challenges.
“We don’t want to sit comfortably in mid-table, that is not anyone in this changing room’s idea of being comfortable, we want to be right up there and I think we have got the squad to have a really good go this season. So, we will be going there for three points and we will be going there for a win and a good performance, as long we keep playing well, we keep there or thereabouts and we keep picking up points then we will be in a comfortable position in the second half of the season to really have a good go. And I want this team to have a really good go, we want to win games and winning games takes you up the table, so we take each game as it comes and look to pick up three points.”
Meanwhile Latics winger James Wesolowski commented to the Oldham Chronicle :
“We are beginning to gel now and I think the way we came back from the dead twice at Preston shows the strength of character we have in this squad. We enter this weekend’s round of fixtures just four points off the play-off places. No-one is going to get carried away, especially so early on in the season, but any team that finds a level of consistency in this division has a good chance of doing well.
“I hope we can go on a run now and remain undefeated for a while. If that happens, then a top-six finish has got to be a realistic aim. The fact we came away from Deepdale gutted not to have won the match is a good indication of how far we have come. I think we have plenty of quality throughout the squad and the only thing we have lacked is consistency, which is something we are all determined to put right.”
In team news for the Latics tomorrow they will definitely be missing three players through injury, while two others are rated as probable to feature. The confirmed trio unavailable being young striker Reuben Reid who is absent with a torn thigh muscle, 21-year old French left-back Bradley Diallo who has a hamstring problem, and teenage winger Phil McGrath who in July suffered a cruciate ligament injury to his right knee for the second time in 12 months.
Meanwhile the pair of players who are likely to feature tomorrow, providing they came through training OK this morning are Shefki Kuqi and Filipe Morais. Kuqi having been substituted in Oldham's 3-3 draw at Preston on Tuesday with a tight groin, while Morais missed that match himself with a tight hamstring. That therefore leaving the Latics squad for tomorrow as follows:
Goalkeepers – Alex Cisak and Paul Gerrard
Defenders – Paul Black, Nathan Clarke, Zander Diamond, Kieran Lee, Jean-Yves M’voto and Carl Winchester
Midfielders – Tom Adeyemi, Dean Furman ©, David Mellor, Kirk Millar, Filipe Morais, Chris Taylor and James Wesolowski
Forwards – Shefki Kuqi, Robbie Simpson and Matt Smith
The referee for tomorrow's match is Andy Haines from Sunderland and he will be assisted down the lines by Martin Coy from Darlington and Tony Harrington from Hartlepool. Meanwhile the fourth official is Ken Haycock from Bradford.