Ritchie said, “If you take away my history with Oldham, this is a very important game in its own right. I suppose the most vital thing is we don't lose, but we want all three points to put some daylight between ourselves, Oldham and Nottingham Forest, who are coming up on the rails. Our form is actually good at the moment, we've just been unable to finish teams off with the extra goal. It's no exaggeration to say we should have won our last three games easily, a couple of them should have been 5-1. I'd be worried if we weren't creating chances or if our overall performances had started going to rack and ruin. They haven't, it's more a case of missed opportunities and a lot of frustration for everyone at the club. I've got confidence in the players to put that right, but we also know Oldham will see this game as a chance to overtake us. The reports say they played badly against MK Dons last week, so I'm sure they will be out to prove a point.”
Former Latics striker Striker Marc Richards has been guilty of wasting chances lately but he will still be a big threat tomorrow as he has scored 11 goals in 25 starts for the Yorkshiremen. Ritchie went on, “I signed Marc on loan for Oldham and always kept an eye on what happened to him afterwards. He was a free agent when he came to Barnsley, but he has been just what we needed up front. Apart from his goals, he gives us some extra muscle and a physical presence which unsettles defenders. We had been a bit worried about his fitness, but he has done ever so well and will hopefully start scoring again this weekend.”