Oldham begin their Sky Bet League 1 campaign with a long journey down to Colchester and boss Lee Johnson says his side are ready to rise to the occasion this season.
Last term the Latics endured a terrible start to the season, despite winning their first match, and only won twice in their opening 10 matches.
But Johnson is hoping a longer-than-usual pre-season will stand his side in good stead for the season.
He said: “It’s been a long time coming and it’s took a lot of preparation. It was a bit of a lengthy pre-season because we brought them in ten days earlier but we feel ready and organised and everybody is excited.
“You can forget the pre-season form and fixtures because now we are into the big stuff and we are looking forward to it.
“Expectations should always start off high at the football club and it’s exciting times for the club.
“You can see what’s happening around the place and we’ve made some good acquisitions on the playing side.
“We’ve all got another year’s experience under our belts and we are all excited going into the season full of high hopes.”
The Latics have been busy in the transfer window and have brought in nine new faces, including George Elokobi, the former Wolves player, completed his move to Boundary Park earlier today.
Elokobi and fellow new signing Brian Wilson are both former Colchester players, something which will add spice to the match should they play.
Another new signing, Liam Kelly, has been named as the Latics captain for the season and the former Bristol City man is likely to play a key role throughout the campaign.
Johnson added: “We are comfortable with this group of players at the moment. There is a possibility of adding a couple more in the coming weeks whether that be on loan or permanent. At the moment we are pleased with the squad and we have to steer clear of injuries.”
Image courtesy of OfficialOAFC via YouTube, with thanks.
