Oldham Athletic Vs Preston North End Match Preview
Npower League One Saturday 21st April 2012
Venue: Boundary Park
Kick Off: 15:00
Referee: Paul Tierney (click here for referee stats)
Form:
Oldham Athletic: LLLLLD
Preston North End: DLLDDW
Prior to the Huddersfield victory at the weekend, North End gaffer Graham Westley laid down the challenge to his players of seeing the season in with four straight wins from their remaining quartet of fixtures.
With Huddersfield displaced the next test is a trip to Boundary Park to take on an out of form Oldham Athletic.
The Latics are on a dismal run which as seen them without a victory in their last six outings, totting up one just point from a possible 18.
North End on the other hand are three games unbeaten.
Such a run of form has seen an element of optimism injected back into the North End support and, coupled with Saturday’s game being billed as ‘Thorsten Stuckmann Day’, it should make for a carnival atmosphere in the away end at Boundary Park come 3pm.
A win for North End could see them mount a challenge to finish in the top half whilst Oldham are still looking over their shoulders towards the drop zone.
Previous Meetings (Click here for head-to-head statistics)
The Latics’ trip to Deepdale in October was certainly an eventful one.
Six goals were shared between the two sides as were the points with the teams playing out a 3-3 draw.
Juvhel Tsoumou put North end in front just shy of the half hour mark before Jamie Proctor made it two.
However, veteran striker Shefki Kuqi pulled one back on 41 minutes before Wesolowoski equalised heading into the interval.
Danny Devine scored his first senior goal with a fortuitous long range effort only to see Wesoloski seal his brace with just four minutes remaining.
However, North End’s last visit to Oldham resulted in a victory for the Lilywhites.
On 7th August 1999 David Moyes’ side recorded a 1-0 win thanks to a Jon Macken goal just after the hour mark.
Team News
Speaking in the week Graham Westley has ruled out strike duo Iain Hume and Neil Mellor whilst Barry Nicholson and Adam Barton also remain sidelined until the new campaign.
For Oldham, Australian goalkeeper Alex Cisak is due back in training but isn’t expected to feature this side of the summer.
Phil McGrath made a return to reserve team action after the winger had been sidelined for much of the campaign but Saturday’s visit of North End is considered to be too soon for the 20-year-old.
Star man Chris Taylor, who has recently rejected a new contract, is also ruled out after failing to recover in time from an ankle problem.
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