Oldham Athletic manager Lee Johnson has called on his side to ‘slay the dragon’ when his side play host to table-topping Leyton Orient on Saturday.
Orient won all of their first eight games before dropping points for the first time this season after a 1-1 draw against Walsall last weekend.
While Johnson understands that it will be a tough task for the out-of-form Latics, he believes his side can be the ones to end Orient’s unbeaten run when the two meet at Boundary Park.
“Orient have had a great start, so it will be difficult for us,” he said.
“They won’t be complacent, but it’s up to us to try to slay the dragon.
“Every great run has to come to an end.”
The two sides could not have had more different starts to the season, with Oldham floundering in 16th place after just two wins from the opening nine games.
But, Latics captain Korey Smith, says that being the underdogs this weekend will only give them additional motivation.
“Of course we want to win every game, but when people are writing you off, like some are this week, that only makes us more determined to win,” he told the Oldham Chronicle.
“We just want a result which will give us that lift and send us on a bit of a run.”
The Latics have not won in the league since August 24 against Port Vale, where they won 3-1.
For the second successive week, Latics striker Charlie McDonald will face a former club – the 32-year-old journeyman played for Orient earlier in 2013 before joining his current club this summer.
McDonald also had a three-year spell at last week’s opposition Crawley Town, against whom he spurned a number of chances to score, but his manager is anticipating more from him against Orient.
“It’s a good one for Charlie,” Johnson said of his striker.
“It’s always nice to play against your old club; he has been hurting this week though.
“He missed chances at Crawley, but I see every day in training what a good finisher he is, so hopefully if he gets a chance tomorrow he’ll stick it away.”
Image courtesy of BBC Sport, with thanks
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