Oldham vs Crawley preview - Latics wait on Winchester

Posted Friday, November 14, 2014 by PA

Oldham are waiting to see whether Carl Winchester will be involved with Northern Ireland ahead of their clash with Crawley.

The midfielder was called up to his country's senior squad for the game in Romania on Friday night but, should he not be involved, Latics boss Lee Johnson is optimistic he will be available for the 1pm kick-off on Saturday.

Daniel Johnson could make his debut having arrived on a loan deal from Aston Villa on Monday while club captain Adam Lockwood (foot) awaits his first appearance of the season having been an unused substitute in the win over Leyton Orient last weekend.

Genseric Kusunga is away on international duty with Angola while fellow centre-back George Elokobi (thigh) only resumed light training this week.

Crawley, looking to end a four-game winless run, have been hit by injuries and suspension.

Under-pressure boss John Gregory is likely to be without a recognised striker as Izale McLeod is banned for collecting five bookings and Matt Harrold (thigh) and Gavin Tomlin (hamstring) are injured.

Former skipper Josh Simpson (hamstring) - who along with Harrold has been placed on the transfer list - and fellow midfielder Marvin Elliott (groin) are also on the sick list while Lanre Oyebanjo and Ryan Dickson limped off during Tuesday's Johnstone's Paint Trophy defeat by Gillingham.

Left-back Mat Sadler will also be missing as his loan from Rotherham has ended, but Gregory can at least welcome centre-half Dean Leacock back from suspension.