Friendship pushed apart

Last updated : 19 October 2007 By The Chairman
Latics boss John Sheridan goes head to head with his mate Andy Ritchie when the Latics visit Huddersfield tomorrow. The two friends will push friendship apart, at least for 90 minutes as their respective teams fight out for the three points on offer. The Latics have been out of action for two weeks and will be looking to hoist their lowly league position and push on ever further when they play their games in hand.

Sheridan said, "Andy will be looking at the home game and thinking they must win, and he won't be bothered that it's Oldham. He'll want to win and that is what I want to do. I'm good friends with Andy and we'll have a drink after the game, but I'll be trying my best to get three points off him beforehand. I went to the game at Doncaster and Andy agreed they didn't perform well, but I know they will be a different side at home. Huddersfield are a strong team with some good players, and it'll be a difficult game because they are very good at home. They are similar to ourselves in that they're a bit inconsistent, and Andy will be looking at the game and saying, as I do to my players, that anyone who can put a bit of a run together will be up at the top because a lot of the teams in this division struggle for consistency."

"It's a shame Rico is suspended because his performance level has improved a lot lately. But Matty Wolfenden's done well. He's looked nice and bright in training and he's in with a chance of starting. I'm considering one or two things and I'll pick a team on Saturday that I think can win the game. It's a long time to be out of action and I would have preferred to have been playing, but we're back on Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. It's not really a problem because we've just carried on training, and some of the lads have been away on international duty. Now we can get back to playing with almost everyone fit. I don't like looking at two games in hand. I would rather have got them played, and we've have hopefully got three points but that's not the case so we'll just get on with it."