Wellens calls for win to kick-start Oldham survival push

Posted Tuesday, April 03, 2018 by PA

Oldham manager Richie Wellens called on his players to use their 2-1 victory over Blackpool as the catalyst for a run to survival.

The Latics moved out of the League One drop zone thanks to a spirited fightback crowned by second-half goals from Jack Byrne and Eoin Doyle.

Wellens said: “The biggest thing today was the result. It’s a massive win for us and we deserved it.

“Jack Byrne was brilliant when he came on. It wasn’t easy for me to drop one of my best players, but he channelled his frustration in exactly the right way.

“We have been around the bottom six or seven for the majority of the season, so we know the next few games will define where we end up.

“It was really important to beat Blackpool because they are one of those teams who are near us in the table.

“This is League One football and a lot of things can happen. It isn’t easy to build momentum if you aren’t one of the top teams, but it can swing very quickly.

“It isn’t long since we picked up 11 points from five games, but then we had a couple of disappointing results.

“Hopefully these three points will give us confidence and help us to kick on.”

After Oldham missed a string of chances, Blackpool struck on 37 minutes when Kyle Vassell slotted in Colin Daniel’s left-wing cross.

Substitute Byrne had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he equalised on the hour mark, driving a fine shot into the top corner.

Oldham grabbed the points after 85 minutes as Doyle, on loan from Preston, headed home Byrne’s corner for his 16th goal of the season.

Blackpool are not clear of danger and manager Gary Bowyer said: “We promised so much in the first half in terms of getting the lead, but you have to keep doing your jobs.

“Unfortunately there were two occasions when we didn’t do our jobs properly and they have cost us the game.

“Two minutes into the second half I wondered what I’d just said to the players because we had been talking about getting on the front foot straight away.

“We didn’t execute the second half well enough and the two goals we conceded were very, very disappointing.

“The difference between the two sides was a player coming down from the Championship (Doyle) who we tried to sign ourselves but we couldn’t compete financially.

“We’ve conceded four goals in two games without being carved open, but we need to look at the manner of them and make sure we do our jobs right to the end.”