Latics boss David Dunn refused to criticise his players’ performance against Burton on the weekend, after the hosts fell to a scrappy 1-0 defeat.
Nasser El Khayati’s 17th minute goal was enough to separate the sides in an even encounter, sending Burton level at the top of League One and leaving Oldham just a point above the relegation zone.
But Dunn was keen to take the positives from only his second defeat in nine games in charge at Boundary Park.
“We will go again, that’s for sure,” said the 35-year-old. “There are a lot of positives to take from the game.
“I am a little but disappointed to come away with no points. I thought we dominated most of the game.
“Sometimes in football you don’t get what you deserve and that is the simple fact: they are going away with three points and we are not.”
It was the same old story for Oldham, so often the better side in League One games this term but fall victim of conceding the first goal.
A lapse in concentration left El Khayati unmarked for Burton’s winner, and Dunn believes that his side are not far off a run of form if they can cut out these errors.
“That is the small detail we are talking about, and those small details can cost you at times,” he said.
“I thought overall we were not too bad today, and on another day I think we probably win the game.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have got a big game next week in the cup and we will be looking to put a performance in. Hopefully we can get the win.”
Oldham travel to Mansfield for their FA Cup first round tie next Saturday with no injury concerns from the weekend, and will be hoping to live up to expectations given their history in the competition.
Despite struggling in the third tier, Latics have pulled off a number of scalps in recent years, most famously that of Liverpool in 2014.
Dunn will be hoping that another run in football’s oldest competition will help kickstart his time in charge and boost Oldham up the table.
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