Selim Benachour sees confidence as key to an Oldham improvement

Posted Sunday, January 02, 2022 by PA

Oldham’s interim boss Selim Benachour has urged his players to be confident that things will turn around after collecting a point at Hartlepool.

Benachour watched the Latics’ goal live a charmed life at times at the Suit Direct Stadium, but similarly his side also had a few fantastic opportunities to win the match themselves.

Oldham would have climbed off the foot of Sky Bet League Two and out of the relegation zone had Davis Keillor-Dunn or Jack Stobbs found the net when faced with just the goalkeeper to beat.

But Benachour knows Hartlepool also had more of the possession and created more openings to win the game too, only for the scoreline to remain goalless.

Oldham are only two points adrift of safety despite a winless run which has extended to seven games, but back-to-back draws on the road at Barrow and Hartlepool have lifted spirits.

Benachour said: “We had some chances and we could have scored in the first half with Davis, then in the second half we could have scored with Jamie Hopcutt and Stobbs. We need to keep working hard.

“It was difficult, two games in three days. I could see them tire a little. It was difficult for them to be strong.

“They (Hartlepool) have been fresher than us because they didn’t play in the week and it showed a little.

“But we need to be positive. We have taken two points in two away games against strong teams and we need to build on that.

“We need to keep going, goals will come because we have quality up front.

“I can see today we are tired. We need to recover well. A point is good. We have to keep our spirits up. We need to start winning games.”

Hartlepool’s failure to find a winner means they have won only one of their last nine matches, but they remain 10 points clear of Oldham.

Pools boss Graeme Lee is now looking to add to his forward line during the January transfer window.

Lee said: “It’s frustration, the end product. We got into fantastic areas, created good chances and we haven’t put it in the net. We dominated the ball a lot better this time around.

“The first 20-odd minutes we had to finish one of those chances. We allowed them to get in the game.

“The players used the balls miles better, the runs we completed were better. We have to create options. We need to time runs better and we saw that in spells of the game.

“We need to show that composure in the final third. We created the chances, we just didn’t put them away.

“We need belief in that final third, we got in the areas. It is not the easiest part but it is the final part. We should have been winning especially with the chances we have had. On another day we could have won that two or three nil.”