de la Paz speaks

Last updated : 29 September 2019 By The Chairman

Zeus de la Paz has found himself stepping in for the injured Gary Woods, his first match being the 3-1 win over Morecambe at Boundary Park last week.

de la Paz said, "I'm really happy. It felt like a homecoming to me. I had a little misunderstanding in the summer but I'm glad we could work it out and I'm glad to be back. Since my résumé is not that big, I was pleasantly surprised that I could get a couple of games in and show what I could do last season. Show the fans, show the club, show the staff and show how much I work in training and show it off on the pitch."

"It was amazing [ playing in the Gold Cup]. You can't describe it because it's such a small Caribbean island and everything we do is for the island, for the people there and everybody is so proud of us because we made history twice. It's crazy and we hope to get better every time we go."

"It's like I said, it was like a homecoming. The fans were shouting my name when I came onto the pitch, had a little clap, it was great, it felt good. To get the legs going again, it felt like another usual day and it was my first win for Oldham as well."

"I think he [ Dino Maamria] has a lot of personality. I think that's good for the boys, keeps us together, keeps it strict and I think he's going to do good things for us. Exactly the same as last year. I'll take every chance I get and I'll do whatever I can to get in that number one spot. I think it's more important than the first choice, because the first choice knows he's going to play and the second choice has to be ready in case, whenever. So I think their job is harder because they have to compete with the first choice and make them better and themselves better. If you mope around and be negative, it's not going to help and it's not going to have an impact in the right way. So you have to be positive and work hard and make sure you get ready and stay ready."