John Sheridan wants fans buzzing as Oldham make it back-to-back wins

Posted Wednesday, February 09, 2022 by PA

Delighted Oldham boss John Sheridan wants to keep the fans ‘buzzing’ after his side saw off in-form Bristol Rovers 2-1.

The Latics are now just two points from escaping the relegation zone after a draw and now back-to-back wins since Sheridan returned for a fourth stint as permanent boss.

He said: “I knew Bristol would create chances and cause us problems, but overall I thought our performance was really solid.

“When you get off to a great start like we did it gets the fans buzzing straight away, and that helped us.

“I said to the players beforehand that we needed to know how to win the game, and how to go about sticking to our game-plan.

“We spoke more at half-time, and then in the second half we created lots of opportunities to finish the game off.

“The most important thing was that we got the three points, though. The belief is there.

“Winning always helps of course, and I just want everyone around the place to have a smile on their face.

“We enjoy training but once it comes to match-time, it’s all about coming away a winner.

“With no disrespect, there has been a lot of negativity around before I came back – I’m just here to try and turn all that around and for the fans to get behind the team.”

Sheridan clearly felt his side should have had a third goal in the second half when Callum Whelan’s strike appeared to hit the crossbar and then bounce down over the line.

“We should have had the goal there, but I haven’t seen it back yet,” he added.

Davis Keillor-Dunn fired the hosts ahead after only 41 seconds, then repeated the trick with another smart finish in the 31st minute.

Rovers halved the deficit just before the interval when early substitute Sam Nicholson sidefooted home.

Both sides had chances in the second half, with Oldham going closest when Whelan thumped his late shot against the crossbar.

Rovers’ recent impressive form was checked as they lost for the first time in seven games.

Boss Joey Barton said: “It was a strange performance from the lads, and there was no indication of what was coming beforehand. I’m disappointed across the board really.

“You don’t have to be a genius to work out that we just weren’t good enough tonight. Oldham were better than us.

“It can be difficult coming to a place like this where the home team are fighting for their lives, and then the last thing you want to do is give them a leg up with an early goal.

“We just didn’t deserve anything, and so we need to put this behind us quickly and move on to another big game at our place at the weekend.”

Barton also agreed that Whelan’s second-half thunderbolt should have counted.

He added: “I don’t know how the linesman didn’t see that one. Maybe he needs to go to Specsavers.

“It looked like the ball was four or five yards over the line from where I was.”