Oldham Athletic boss Lee Johnson acknowledged the huge gulf between his side and Middlesbrough after the Latics were soundly beaten by the 2006 Uefa Cup runners-up in the Capital One Cup last night.
Boro, hoping to achieve promotion from the second division of English football, made light work of Oldham in their 3-0 victory to reach the second round.
Yet Oldham’s Johnson has tricks up his sleeve to mount a League One charge and hopefully take the club back to the Premier League, where they played for two seasons from when the competition started in 1992/3.
“It’s a really good learning curve for them lads because when you feel yourself against Championship opposition and get outplayed, we can see where improvement is needed to get to that level,” said Johnson.
“We shall be watching videos, looking at their movements and learning from their play.
“We’ve got players to come back but they are a good team. John Woodgate is a top player and Clark-Harris is a good young player but we should be learning from those sorts of players.”
The 33-year old went on to comment that, although disappointed, he does draw some positives from the cup tie and will hope these spur them onto their first victory of the league campaign as they host Leyton Orient at SportsDirect.com Park on Saturday.
“I did think we had a little spell where we got our game going and that’s what I asked for at half-time, because it’s important we get our game on for Saturday.
“I don’t think we should be too downhearted going into the Orient game because it’s our division and our level and we can impose ourselves.”
Image courtesy of OAFC Official via YouTube, with thanks.
