Busy time is beneficial, says Oldham boss of festive fixtures

OLDHAM head coach Dino Maamria admits that a busy Christmas period could turn out to be a positive for his side’s season.

Last weekend’s 2-0 loss against leaders Swindon saw Latics beaten for the first time in six league games, leaving them five points clear of the relegation zone ahead of today’s game with Crawley Town at Boundary Park.

Today marks the start of a congested schedule for clubs, with five League Two games spread across the next two weeks – something which Maamria believes his squad can benefit from if they take the right approach.

He said: “I actually like lots of consecutive games because they can keep you focused and keep you fresh.

“You’ve got to go and plan well for them and you’ve got to make sure that your training schedule is right for the players.

“It’s just really keeping them ready for those games, I’ve done the physical work with the players over the past few weeks, now it’s about focusing on the technical part of the game and we’ll take it one game at a time.”

The first of those five sees Latics face a Crawley side who have recently struggled for form, having not won in their last six games in all competitions. That run has seen John Yems’ side slip back into the bottom half of the League Two table, just three points ahead of Oldham in 15th.

“I think that they’ll be organised as they’ve got some quality players at this level and they’re underachieving for some reason and we’ve got to be wary of them, but we don’t want to complicate it too much,” Maamria added.