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Keeping it in perspective

Gavin Browne
21/ 8/2008

JOHN Sheridan has warned his Oldham Athletic players not to get carried away by their successful start to the season.

Having come from 3-1 down to beat Millwall and then played with 10 men for 90 minutes of the Carling Cup victory at Rochdale, Athletic completed a hat-trick of wins with a 2-0 triumph at Leeds United last weekend.

They now face Cheltenham Town at Boundary Park on Saturday with Sheridan demanding his players remain focused against a side who had been tipped to struggle this season.

He said: "It's one of those games where everyone's expecting us to win because of the start we've had and because it's Cheltenham.

"I'll never take them for granted though. Hopefully we'll perform and if we do the same as in the previous games, I think we'll get the right result.

"I've made it clear that getting off to a good start is important after the two seasons we've had. I think people are getting carried away because we've won two games, you can easily lose the next two or three."

That sentiment was echoed by Reuben Hazell who, along with back four colleagues Sean Gregan, Neal Eardley and Kelvin Lomax, recovered from a jittery collective performance against Millwall to nullify Leeds' attack.

Hazell and Gregan have formed an effective partnership at the heart of Latics' defence, a case of 'opposites attract' according to Hazell.

He said: "Me and Greegs complement each other. He's aggressive and likes to attack every ball and I sweep up around him.

"I enjoy playing with him and it's starting to become a decent partnership. We conceded three on the first day but I think that was a freak result and a freak game - I think we're back to where we were last season before he got injured.

"There's been three really funny and entertaining games in different ways this season but if we have a really boring 1-0 win against Cheltenham, it won't bother us one bit."