Marcus Braddock previews the New Years Day visit of Ol
With in form Portsmouth beaten at home and four points from Southend and Wigan away, you could be forgiven for thinking that the hard part of the Christmas program was over. But our New Years Day opponents will have something to say about that and we underestimate at our peril. It's probably fair to say they haven't enjoyed the most consistent form in the first half of their season but January is traditionally a time to cut out bad habits. So they may be looking at this game as the kickstart of the rest of their season and against a team at the top end of the table they will have nothing to lose and could throw caution to the wind. Recent form has seen them lose two and draw twice in their last five games and if you look through their results this season you see similar scenario's throughout the season, a win every now and then and a couple of draws. Their best form this season so far was in September when they strung four wins together, three in the league and one in the Football League Trophy.
Goalscorers (League One)
Eoin Doyle 12
Craig Davies 9
Jack Byrne 4
Assists
Jack Byrne 6
Eoin Doyle 4
Danny Gardener 3
Clean Sheets (League)
2 at home and 1 away.
Key Stats
Oldham have gained less than one point per away game this season with .92 goals per game.
The Latics have won just 17% of their away games this season but have lost less than 50%.
On average Oldham score 1.42 goals per away game but concede an average of 2.17.
By far they're most vulnerable part of their game is the last fifteen minutes with ten goals conceded and two scored.
Their strongest period of the game is the last fifteen minutes of the first half during which they have scored three times and not conceded.
Referee - Tom Nield from West Yorkshire. Games this season:17. Yellow Cards: 32. Red cards: 2.
Assistants: Richard Wigglesworth and Thomas Harty
Fourth Official: Peter Gibbons
Squad News
Oldham have top scorer Eoin Doyle missing because of a blood clot but have signed Irish striker Patrick McEleney from Dundalk.
Paul Hurst has no new injury concerns.
Summary
Oldham may not be the most in form team we will play this season but they are more than capable of scoring enough goals to beat a team. Unfortunately for them on a few occasions they've conceded the same amount or more. At home to Charlton for example they scored three but conceded one more and at Milton Keynes they scored four but still shared the points. Most of their defeats have been by the one goal so they aren't too far away from being in form and their 5-1 win at home to Northampton shows what they are capable of. So they could cause us problems if we allow them to and another good start is essential.
COYB!!!