Players know about team’s cup tradition says Dino

OLDHAM head coach Dino Maamria believes his side can cause an upset in their secondround FA Cup tie with Burton Albion later today.

Latics return to Boundary Park for the first time since November 2 off the back of last weekend’s 1-0 win at Newport County which moved them five points clear of the relegation zone.

“Our focus has always been on the league and FA Cup. So those ten games I looked back on over the weekend, we have made huge strides going forward. We’ve had four wins, three losses and three draws,” said Maamria ahead of today’s game.

“I think physically we’ve been getting fitter every game, we’ve been finishing games strongly.

“We weren’t holding on to a 1-0, we were better in the second half against Newport than we were in the first.”

Attention now turns back to the FA Cup, where a win for Oldham would see them through to the third round for the second consecutive season.

“It’s a very important game for us, I’ve emphasised that a lot to our players,” the Latics boss added.

“Some of them were here last season, some of them know the history of Oldham Athletic and some of them don’t, so I had to share the ‘cup fever’ with them and what it means to Oldham Athletic and the town.”

Today’s opponents come into the game in mixed form winning two of their last five games, including a 4-1 replay win against Salford in the last round of the competition. And with the Brewers expected to advance into the third round, Maamria is also aware of the quality that his side will be up against.

He said: “I’ve watched Burton first-hand a couple of times. They’ve been together a long time with Nigel [Clough]. They know how to play a certain way and they are very good at it.”