Stevenage FC

Weather Forecast: Chance of storms, 20°c

Referee: M Naylor (South Yorkshire)

After picking up their first away win of the season on Tuesday night, Stevenage travel north to Oldham this weekend hoping to pick up their second consecutive victory and their extend their unbeaten run at the start of the campaign to four games in all competitions.

Oldham finished in 16th place last season after a season of inconsistency which never saw them get higher than 11th. Whilst they steered well clear of relegation they were equally way off the playoff places and boss Paul Dickov will be hoping for a more consistent run of results this season. Much like Boro, the Latics have seen plenty of changes over the summer but Dickov has assembled a talented looking squad which includes experienced campaigners such as former Manchester City and Norwich winger Lee Croft and ex-Scunthorpe defender Cliff Byrne, the tricky Robbie Simpson up front and highly-rated skipper Dean Furman in the middle of the park.

Back in March Lawrie Wilson scored an injury-time winner for Boro to down Oldham and take them to within two points of the play-off places. Oldham had a chance in the first half when Tom Adeyemi received Boro keeper Chris Day's poor goal-kick but lobbed over from 30 yards. After the break Craig Reid was denied by onrushing Latics keeper Alex Cisak but he was beaten in the 90th minute when Wilson met Darius Charles's right-wing cross with a diving header.

Boro: Day, Wilson, Roberts, Ashton, Charles, Freeman (Lascelles), Byrom, Bostwick, Laird, Slew (Agyemang), Reid (Myrie-Williams)

Subs not used: Julian, Shroot

Oldham will be without midfielder James Wesolowski who is out for between four and six weeks with a hamstring injury so Youssouf Mchangama will continue in central midfield alongside Dean Furman. 

Stevenage will probably stick with a similar side to that which won at Leyton Orient on Tuesday night. Greg Tansey could come in for Robin Shroot whilst Filipe Morais is likely to start against his old club. 

After a fantastic pre-season Oldham fans would have been hoping for a great start to the new campaign but unfortunately for them that’s not what’s happened so far. The Latics picked up consecutive wins against Mossley (3-0), York City (2-0), Fleetwood (3-1) and Manchester City (2-1) and a goalless draw versus Huddersfield before the new campaign kicked off, only to lose their Capital One Cup game to Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 after being 2-0 up. A 2-0 reverse at MK Dons on the opening day of the season then followed however Paul Dickov’s men did pick up their first point of the season with a 1-1 draw at home to Walsall earlier this week.

Alex Cisak; Cliff Byrne, James Tarkowski, Jean Yves M’voto, Jonathan Grounds; Lee Croft, Dean Furman, Youssouf M’Changama, Cristian Montano; Robbie Simpson, Jordan Slew

Subs from: Daniel Taylor, Connor Hughes, Connor Brown, Dean Bouzanis, Matt Smith, Kirk Millar, Carl Winchester

Jordan Slew will be keen to put in a good performance against Boro in this game having endured a frustrating time whilst on loan in Hertfordshire last season. The 19 year old made nine appearances for Stevenage without finding the back of the net, with indifferent form and a dismissal not helping his cause. After signing a six month loan deal at Boundary Park he did give the Latics a dream start in their league cup game against Sheffield Wednesday last week, scoring in the seventh minute with a clinical finish, only for the visitors to run out 4-2 winners.

• Oldham Athletic was originally founded in 1895 as Pine Villa FC.

• Famous fans of Oldham Athletic include Paul Scholes, Professor Brian Cox and comedy duo Cannon and Ball.

• Whilst Boro have their own group of fans in Holland, Oldham have their own group of fans in Germany after forging a supporters friendship with Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt.

• Oldham have yet to beat Stevenage, having come from behind to draw 1-1 at Boundary Park last September and losing 1-0 at The Lamex Stadium in March.

• Oldham only won one of their first six home games last season, drawing three and losing two.

• Of their 23 league games at Boundary Park last season the Latics won nine, drew five and lost nine, whilst both scoring and conceding 26 times.

• In comparison Boro won eight, drew nine and lost just six of their league games on the road last season, scoring 33 times whilst conceding just 21, the second lowest amount of goals conceded on the road in League One after Charlton.

• Darius Charles’ next goal will be his 10th for Boro. His nine goals to date have come from 70 appearances.

PREVIEW BY DAVE TOYN