Baxter’s abilities hailed but Scholes needs quality time
OLDHAM manager Paul Scholes rates Jose Baxter as one of Boundary Park’s most gifted players and believes the former Everton man can play a key role in Saturday’s derby at Bury.
Baxter equalised for the Latics in the 76th minute in their 2-1 defeat against Morecambe on Tuesday night with a bullet header into the bottom corner, but his goal counted for nothing as sub Aaron Collins struck late to derail Scholes’ unbeaten start.
And Scholes was full of praise for Baxter, who made it two goals in his last three games under his new manager. He said: “I knew he had quality and I thought that was his best game for us so far.
“Everything we did came through him and he took his goal well, which will give his confidence the world of good and he looks fit too.
“He’s probably our best footballer and he needs to be on the pitch as much as possible.”
However, Scholes acknowledged that he still needs more time on the training pitch and is relishing the three midweeks in March in order to fine-tune his play-off push.
“It’s been a busy week and we’ve had no time to coach,’’ Scholes added.
“We’ve just been putting sessions on to try and tick the players over, but with the pitches at the training ground being the way they have been, we’ve not had much time to train.
“We can’t train much anyway with the legs of the players and with it being this time of the year.
“But we’ve got a nice few weeks after Bury where we can have plenty of rest and get work into the players, so I’m looking forward to that time coming around.”
The Latics recorded a 4-2 win against Ryan Lowe’s Bury side in December, who currently sit second in the table, but Scholes is well aware of the challenges that lie ahead of him on Saturday.
“We know what a good team they are, they probably play the best football in the league, so it’s going to be a huge challenge for us,’’ Scholes conceded.
“We’ve played three games in a week, so Bury will be nice and fresh for the weekend, but I’m sure we’ll recover well between now and Saturday and give it a good go.
“We’ve got some good young players, where we can possibly make four or five changes to the team by bringing in some fresh legs.’’
Top goalscorer Callum Lang is also expected to return to the starting line-up on Saturday after missing out on Tuesday night’s defeat, which will be a welcome return for Scholes as Oldham look to do the double over Bury for the first time since 1931.