Scholes boosts Latics for play-off challenge
OLDHAM Athletic winger Jose Baxter says he is looking forward to the prospect of being managed by Paul Scholes – and believes the Latics can still make a late charge for the playoffs.
The Latics welcome an in-form Crewe Alexander side in League Two today looking to build on the momentum from Scholes’ opening win on Tuesday night when they thumped struggling Yeovil Town 4-1.
Baxter returned to the starting line-up that night and opened the scoring with his first goal since September, after making a handful of appearances from the bench.
And Baxter is looking forward to a fresh start and scoring lots of goals under his new manager, which is something Scholes has already addressed with his players, despite only being in charge for less than a week.
“There’s always a fresh start for everyone when a new manager comes in,” Baxter said.
“It’s given the players, fans and everyone in Oldham a great big boost.
“Scholes is a footballing icon, so of course it’s great that he’s here because it means we can take inspiration and learn from him. “He wants to give the fans exciting football and to go and get three, four and five goals in a match, instead of just sitting back to protect a 1-0 lead, gives us that extra drive.” But the midfielder from Merseyside is aware the Latics need to be more consistent in the league in order to challenge for the play-off positions.
Baxter added: “We were a team at the start of the season that wanted promotion and we’re only six points off the play-offs now with a game in hand, so why can’t we challenge for them? If we can pick points up on the road and win our home games then who knows what might happen.
“The manager is striving for promotion and he believes that this team can do it, which is the main reason why he came here. We’re all singing from the same hymn sheet and we know what we need to do.”
Oldham right-back Tom Hamer is expected to miss out today with stiffness while Callum Lang is also out after finishing Tuesday’s match with a tight hamstring.
Both sides come into today’s fixture full of confidence, with David Artell’s Crewe side looking to extend their impressive unbeaten run to seven matches, having picked up four wins and two draws from their last six.