After a positive week that yielded four points from two matches, David Dunn believes his Oldham side are headed in the right direction ahead of their first ever league encounter with Burton Albion.
Dunn claimed his first win last week with victory at Swindon, while a goalless draw against Rochdale means the 35-year-old has lost just one of his eight games in charge.
Charged with rebuilding a plummeting side when he joined in mid-September, Dunn is now starting to see the fruits of his labour with performances and results improving.
“The run of fixtures I’ve had has been a pretty tough start to my managerial career,” conceded Dunn, “but we are going in the right direction.”
“We had a very positive week last week. It was very good, so if we can back that up with a couple of wins at home then it will stand us in good stead.”
The midfielder, who has made just one appearance since taking over as boss, says his players must learn to deal with the newfound pressure to do well after a period of poor results.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s side travel to Boundary Park on Saturday sitting in third place on the back of victory over Port Vale, and Dunn accepts that the Brewers will be difficult to break down.
“We keep talking to all the players about the mentality we need to achieve good results here. If we are going to be successful, you have got to play under pressure.
“If you look at the stats, Burton are probably the best in the league for stats created against – they don’t concede very many chances.”
And Dunn will have to take on Hasselbaink’s well-drilled defence two men down, after injuries to Mike Jones and Danny Lafferty see them ruled out of the weekend’s fixture.
Meanwhile, Burton have midfielder Robbie Weir suspended but are free to name an otherwise unchanged squad.
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