Fan’s view: Carabao Cup defeat highlights areas for improvement
Mike Fondop struggled to make an impact against Accrington
Oldham kicked off the League Two season – and our return to the Football League – with a well-earned point away at title favourites Milton Keynes.
It’s fair to say we matched them in every area and, in a game of few chances, arguably had the best of them when Kane Drummond dragged his shot wide in the first half and Mike Fondop fired the only shot on target by any side towards the end of the game.
It was an extremely professional away performance based on the solid foundations provided by Donervon Daniels, who was excellent on his debut, and the rest of the defence.
My man of the match was Ryan Woods, who ran the show in the middle of the park, keeping us ticking over and really leading the team as the central fulcrum.
Overall, it was a very promising performance full of desire and character, along with some good football too, and it showed we are not going to look out of place at all in our new division.
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Just as during pre-season though, a key takeaway from the match was that we are still missing a cutting edge up front, despite the hard working display of Fondop.
Micky Mellon suggested post-match that he is on the verge of resolving that issue but, unfortunately, it wasn’t quite in time for the Carabao Cup tie against Accrington Stanley.
And it showed in a very frustrating night in my hometown. For the first 10 minutes, we were on top and picked up where we left off on Saturday, despite the change in personnel.
However, as soon as Stanley went one up, we fell apart and, especially defensively, we were all over the show and allowed our hosts many chances, with defensive errors contributing to their three goals.
It was therefore game over long before Reagan Ogle’s deflected effort pulled us a goal back in what was an improved second half display.
It is disappointing to be out of the cup at this stage but the even more disappointing aspect was the manner of the defeat. We are definitely missing our injured personnel as well as still needing the couple more bodies through the door that the gaffer has suggested are hopefully imminent.
With two home games in a row coming up, we have the perfect opportunity to bounce back from the disappointment of Tuesday night in the cup and follow the excellent opening day draw with some more early points on the board in the league.
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