Jones and Forte key to Oldham's impressive form
Reds will be aiming for their first ever win at Oldham when we head to Sportsdirect.com Park on Saturday.
Our two previous trips have both ended in defeats.
In April 2013 we went down 2-1 despite equalising through Mark Connolly and in March, four days after beating Wolves 2-1, we were brought back down to earth with a 1-0 loss.
The Latics are one of the form teams in the division this season. Their 1-0 defeat at leaders Bristol City a fortnight ago was their first in 12 games in the league and Lee Johnson’s men bounced back last Saturday by defeating Leyton Orient 1-0 in the first round of the FA Cup.
Former Reds' loan striker Jonathan Forte, who scored three goals in 2012 for the club
There will be a couple of familiar faces in the Latics’ line-up on Saturday.
Striker Jonathan Forte was with Reds in 2012 when he signed on loan from Southampton and scored three goals under Richie Barker in 16 appearances.
Barker also signed midfielder Mike Jones in August 2012 and MJ had two seasons with the club, making 91 appearances and scoring five goals.
Manager John Gregory is expecting another tough game.
He said: “In many ways Oldham have been the surprise package in the league so far but to me not that much of a surprise.
“They have got someone in Forte who is scoring regularly and is obviously full of confidence but (manager) Lee (Johnson) seems to have recruited well and we all know about MJ of course.
“We need to go there, be prepared to graft and match their hard work and when we get opportunities we have to take them. For an hour on Tuesday against Gillingham we were excellent, but we
need that level of performance for 90 minutes and we will certainly need it against one of the best sides in the division at the moment.”
Remember, the game kicks off at 1pm to avoid a clash with England's Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia.
