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Match Previews

Preview: Oldham Athletic

3 November 2020

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Fresh off the back of Saturday's home success against Forest Green, Cheltenham Town march onwards tonight to Greater Manchester for a clash with Oldham Athletic (kick-off: 6pm).

October was a very busy month on the schedule, and having successfully mastered the second month of the campaign, it's now onto November's fixtures and the Latics will offer another good challenge this evening.

The FA Cup starts for Michael Duff's side on Saturday, but the attention is fully on going into this weekend's cup action with another morale boosting result in the league.

Watch the game tonight online by purchasing a match pass on iFollow. You can subscribe for a pass for £10.

Team news

Matty Blair is back in contention after a recent groin problem. The wing back was on the bench for Saturday's win.

Ellis Chapman made his debut as a substitute at the weekend and could be in contention, however Sean Long, Callum Ebanks, Finn Azaz and Elliot Bonds are definitely out, as is forward George Lloyd.

Check out Russell Milton's pre-match press conference ahead of this evening.

Opposition

This is now Oldham's third consecutive season in League Two after relegation from the third tier at the end of the 2017/18 season.

They currently occupy 20th in position and have a new man in charge after former Liverpool and Leeds United attacker Harry Kewell was appointed manager in the summer, replacing Dino Maamria in the dugout at Boundary Park.

So far this season they've recorded good wins over the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Southend United and Carlisle United in the Carabao Cup, but they're yet to put a run of results together that would help them climb the League Two table.

Last time out they were at Salford on Saturday but suffered a 2-0 loss, while their last home outing ended in a 2-1 defeat against Port Vale.

In Ian Lawlor they have a goalkeeper who will know some of the Robins players well from his time at Doncaster Rovers where is currently on loan from.

Defensively Carl Piergianni signed permanently in the summer after ending the second half of last season on loan from Salford, Harry Clarke is a youngster on loan from Arsenal and they also include 23-year-old Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, who broke into the Manchester United first team a few years ago as defensive options.

In midfield 30-year-old Bobby Grant offers useful experience having previously played League football for the likes of Scunthorpe United and Fleetwood Town.

Callum Whelan is another former Manchester United youngster as is Zak Dearnley who could feature having already found the back of the net four times this term.

The Oldham attack could see former Ross County man Davis Keillor-Dunn line up at the top of the pitch while Danny Rowe, who joined after a very successful time with AFC Fylde in January 2020, also has an eye for goal. Australia youth international George Blackwood made the switch to England in 2020 to also gain his first taste of Football League action.

The manager: Harry Kewell

Harry Kewell's playing career saw him win the Champions League with Liverpool and the FA Cup with the Anfield side having also represented the likes of Leeds United, Galatasary and both Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart in his homeland of Australia.

It was also for the Socceroos he earned over 50 caps, playing for them on the biggest stage in the World Cup.

He first stepped into coaching as part of the youth set-up at Watford when he finished playing, going onto manage the under-23s with the Vicarage Road outfit.

That saw him earn his first move into Football League management when he took charge at Crawley Town. A short stint at Notts County followed this ahead of his appointment as Oldham's new manager in the summer of 2020.

One to watch: Conor McAleny

Although he missed Saturday's loss at Salford with a late injury, Oldham will be hoping to have Conor McAleny back in their ranks for this evening's fixture.

The 28-year-old has already bagged eight goals for the Latics since joining in the summer from Fleetwood Town.

He's got three braces this season though hasn't found the back of the net in his last four appearances.

He began his career at Everton and had various loan spells including with Scunthorpe, Cardiff City, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Wigan and Oxford United away from Goodison Park.

Upon his release he transferred to Fleetwood where he made over 50 League appearances but had his first taste of Scottish football when he spent time on loan at Kilmarnock in the SPL. He also had a stint on loan at Shrewsbury Town last season.

Watch the match on iFollow

You can watch the whole of tonight's game online by purchasing a match pass for iFollow.

It is available for £10 and you can buy online to log in and view the game with your iFollow account through the club website or EFL iFollow app.

Coverage

Follow @CTFCofficial on Twitter for match updates, team news, pictures and more to keep an eye on the action this evening.

There will also be team news and score updates on the club's Facebook page and Instagram account.

After the game check out the club website to read a match report and to hear reaction from inside the camp to the full time result.

You can watch extended highlights from Boundary Park on iFollow after the match too.


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