Without a win this season in the league, Oldham Athletic travel to a Cambridge United side that currently sit third in the table, on eight points. United's start has been surprising to many, with them picking up good results against difficult sides when they struggled in the league last season.

Oldham picked up their first point of the season on Tuesday night, when they drew at home to Exeter. The Latics were dominated in terms of possession by the Grecians, and were lucky that their opposition had a goal disallowed by the linesman in the closing minutes of the match. Sitting 23rd in the table, they have only scored a single goal so far - a problem that needs to be addressed in the end of the transfer window.

Cambridge are still unbeaten so far, even beating Championship Brentford on penalties in the Carabao Cup; whilst they now face Swansea City on Wednesday. The 'U's have gained good results against many sides which people would predict to be the stronger ones in the league - Bradford  City, Colchester United and Newport County.

Team News

Defender Tomas Egert is still out of action for the Latics after his ACL injury last season, but he featured in the club's open training session on Thursday.

David Wheater played a full 90 at home to Exeter at the weekend, helping to keep a clean sheet. Having him in the back-line at the weekend could prove a big positive against Cambridge, and could give the club a good chance to pick up points.

Dylan Fage has also impressed on the wing in previous matches, and should start. Mohamed Maouche and Christopher Missilou missed the last game through injury, but have been back in training.

Kyle Knoyle may require surgery on his shoulder, after he sustained an injury for Cambridge in their match against Newport County. Jabo Ibehre suffered a concussion, and will miss the game.

Dan Jones pulled out of training on Monday afternoon due to an ongoing foot problem and is also doubtful for the Latics clash.

Match Facts

  • The Latics picked up four points against Cambridge last season, drawing 1-1 at The Abbey in March of last year, and being 3-1 victors in the home tie.
  • The majority of the time, the two sides have drawn when they have played each other - (10 Oldham wins, 12 draws, six Cambridge wins).
  • Five of Cambridge's six wins have came when they have played at home.
  • Top scorer for the Us, Paul Lewis, has got either a goal or an assist a game. He has also played a full 90 in every one of his League two matches.

The mangers' views

The Oldham manager talked about how his side should build on the first point of the season:

“We need to continue, it's important to gain some results for the confidence of the team.

“It's important to push the team because we can do more and we can do better.

“Step by step we must rise to a better level, but we're trying, and I think we can bring out the potential in this team.”

Colin Calderwood challenged his side to keep up their good performances going into their match against Oldham:

“We have to push forward because everybody knows that four games won’t get you anywhere near you need to get to,” he said.

“If we are in a good moment, we have to prove it and beat anybody, it doesn’t matter now."

The side narrowly picked up three points late on against Scunthorpe midweek, and the manager touched on this:

“We’ve got to compete and try and win, take advantage of being at home, and get a strong a home record as we can and back up Tuesday night’s excellent performance and make sure that we can get to the levels that we want too, which was pretty high on Tuesday.”