Scott Naylor admits that winning at Dewsbury Rams would be huge for Oldham’s Championship campaign.
Should they win, Oldham would move five points clear of their hosts in the final relegation spot and could be within a point of the top half.
A loss, however, would see the Roughyeds dragged right back into the relegation scrap, just three points from safety.
And Naylor doesn’t underestimate the importance of his side keeping up their unbeaten start against bottom half sides at the Tetley’s Stadium.
“It’s a big game for both teams,” said Naylor. “Dewsbury are below us in the table so two points would be valuable for both clubs. For us, we’ve got a game in hand which is against Dewsbury at home. We’ve beaten the teams around us in the division which is important.
“If we can win at Dewsbury it would be huge for us because we will have taken points from everyone that is around us in the table which means we’ll be looking up not looking down which is a good thing.”
A trip to Dewsbury is significantly harder now than it would have been earlier on in the season, with the Rams picking up their first points of the season in one of two Heavy Woollen derby wins over Batley Bulldogs.
New coach Neil Kelly’s influence since replacing Glenn Morrison has been substantial however Naylor says he hasn’t been surprised by Dewsbury’s resurgence.
“Every coach has different ideas and different opinions which always helps. You always get a response when you get a new manager or new coach in. We’ve got to go there, do a job and hopefully get the two points. It’s there to see if you watch Dewsbury’s last two games that they’re playing at a higher level and a higher intensity. We’ve got to go there and match that to start with, kick on and try and win the game.”
