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Latic players will train at Boundary Park

21/ 4/2008

JOHN Sheridan has revealed his Oldham Athletic players will be training at Boundary Park over the summer in a bid to have them fit and firing next season.

Speaking after last Saturday's 2-0 defeat against Northampton Town, Sheridan warned his players to expect hard work when they might normally be on a beach somewhere.

Pre-season friendlies have been announced against Cercle Brugge KSV, Derby County, Hull City and Bradford City thus far as Sheridan seeks to rid his side of the inconsistency which - ironically - has been the one consistent element of their campaign.

He said: "I've arranged all the pre-season games to be against strong opposition. The players will be in over the summer because we're going to do lots of things differently.

"The last two seasons we haven't got off to a good start and I want us to do so where we can get confidence earlier in the season. Hopefully it will stand us in good stead over the season."

Goals from Giles Coke and Ryan Gilligan meant Athletic left Sixfields empty-handed following a performance to forget.

They never looked like troubling home keeper Mark Bunn who celebrated his 100th appearance with possibly the easiest clean sheet of his career.

Unsurprisingly then, Sheridan was not a particularly happy man at the final whistle as the hosts leapfrogged Athletic into 10th place in the League One table.

He said: "They looked a decent team to be fair. I think they wanted it more than us and were determined to win the game.

"I think we looked a soft touch again, we're lacking a lot of experience on the pitch but we need to get right for next season because I think we can do well.

"I don't like any team of mine playing like that though; we didn't threaten their goal and it's a shame because I've said I want to finish as high as we can but performances like that won't get you far."