Oldham Athletic manager Lee Johnson wants his side to quit being the naughty schoolkid playing with a yo-yo in class and get serious about their League One play-off push.
Saturday’s opponents Scunthorpe United have lost just once in the league since the start of November and so Johnson expects a tough encounter at Glanford Park, despite the Iron’s lowly league position of 17th.
The Latics, meanwhile, have made a distinctly inconsistent start to the year with two wins, two defeats and a draw and the 33-year-old will be looking for some stability as Oldham seek to make up the two-point gap to fifth-placed Chesterfield.
“One minute we think we are the world’s best and the next we are useless and the fact is we are neither,” he said.
“We just have to continue on the straight round and try and produce our best on a game-by-game basis.
“They (Scunthorpe) are in an extremely false position in the league. They are a very good side, spent a lot of money and brought in some good players.
“They have the new lad from Holland (Kevin van Veen) who will come over this weekend and be involved so it’s all positive for them. We have good players ourselves and at this club, but we are up and down. “
Johnson praised the 686 Oldham fans who saw their team lose 1-0 to Barnsley in midweek, and has called on them to cheer his side on again.
“I have to say I thought they were great on Tuesday. They moaned a bit but I have no problem with that because I was moaning five times as worse in the dressing room,” he said.
“I thought they were fantastic. What we asked for, they gave us. They gave us the 90 minutes and then voiced their opinion at the end which was fair. It wasn’t over the top, it was just fair.
“I was disappointed for them as well because it was a great travelling bunch but we go again as always. The spirit of this club is what’s great about it and a thousand at Scunthorpe will be great.”
Main image courtesy of OfficialOAFC via YouTube, with thanks.
