Lee Johnson has sung the praises of his players after their 3-0 derby success at local rivals Rochdale on Saturday. The win takes the Latics into the play-off positions for the first time this season and the match was watched by an estimated 3,250 enthusiastic Oldham supporters.
Johnson said, "I thought it was a very professional performance from us. There wasn't a lot in the game until the goal but I thought we looked solid throughout. I was really pleased with three or four individuals. The boys worked hard. They never stopped running right until the end and it was difficult for us. The 3-0 scoreline slightly flatters us a little bit because of the state of the play but we were very professional and strong as a unit. We limited them to little chances against Paddy Kenny. I think we can still improve. I thought our passing was nowhere near as good as it usually is and if we can get both the solidness and the strength to our unit right then we will certainly be a force."
"I thought Danny was fantastic. He never stopped running, shutting down and he was good on the ball as well. I thought him, Liam Kelly and Daniel Johnson were superb. All down the spine we were strong, not just in body but in mind as well. I can't pick many faults in a 3-0 away win against your local rivals with 3,200 of your fans here. I thought they (the fans) were brilliant. It just goes to show that if you have got that backing of real strong away support it shows how positive it can be. It definitely spurred us on and it was good to get the first goal and we were quite comfortable in the end. For the first time the fans have that belief the players are going out with total commitment and are running themselves into the ground, and that's important. We just need to work together now. We all need support like we had at Rochdale, and all players want to play in games like that.”
“Getting into the top six doesn’t count for anything, but I think Saturday was a statement result. We’re determined to stay in the top six and compete in those top six or eight in the division. We’ve got our noses into sixth place now, albeit a couple of teams have games in hand. There’s a long way to go - and that’s a positive. We can still improve and we can still catch people above us. The secret is to maintain that progress now. We’ve got players coming back and there are a lot of options. We’ve got half a chance at least."