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"I am disappointed with the way I played at Walsall. I guess you can't play well every game and I am looking to put it right against Carlisle. But overall, I am loving the season so far. It is great to be in a team that wants to play football. When we have got the ball we work as hard as when we don't have it and that suits my game.
"We are confident among ourselves. There are a lot of big teams in this league, but we have a tight-knit group here and we work hard for one another. We are picking up points and staying in the mix at just over the halfway point in the season. There are a lot of games to come and it is going to take a big effort from the whole squad. But we are quietly confident we can pick up points to have a real go at it.
"Carlisle is a difficult place to go to, we went there last season, in different circumstances to this one, and won. We needed points then and this time we need them for different reasons. Now we are pushing up the league while last time we were trying to survive. They have been on a good run themselves recently, but we go there full of confidence and looking to take three points."
Meanwile Latics skipper Reuben Hazell told the Manchester Evening News :
"I've got more confidence now than any other year. The first season we had a lot of experienced players but we tailed off towards the end. We're a young side now and it's probably formed a better team spirit because everyone hangs out with everyone else outside of football and I have a great feeling. I've got a funny feeling that we can do something this season; I look at the lads we've got, the talent we've got, the management and staff have done great and I really feel we can do something.
"Fingers crossed that we can pick up 35 points in the second half of the season because we dropped a lot of points from winning positions. If we can turn that into 38 or 40 points, it should be promotion or the play-offs; we're certainly going for it. Trust me, I think we're going to do something this season; people might say we're putting pressure on the team but we're going for it and we'll be disappointed if we don't."
And Oldham boss Paul Dickov commented to the Evening Chronicle :
"They have a good cushion in the Johnstone's Paint Final. I know Greg Abbott will be playing that down, but when you are 4-0 up going into a second leg game you have got to be quietly confident, you would think. Carlisle are a young bunch, with three or four players in there with points to prove. They play with high energy so it should be a good game.
"I know Lubomir Michalik from my time at Leeds. He is a big old lump — but don't think he isn't a good player because of his size and build. People look at him and think he will just head and kick it, but he is a good footballer. He is not slow and once he gets his big legs going he covers the ground quickly."