Midfielder Ousmane has faith in the future as he settles down to enjoy his new life in Oldham

Ousmane Fane

OUSMANE Fane has described how he draws power from his faith in order to improve as a player.

The 22-year-old summer signing from Kidderminster has quickly settled in at Athletic and, living in close proximity to SportsDirect.com Park, attends a mosque locally.

Paris-born Fane admits there can be logistical challenges to overcome when needing to pray, but he has found the club and his team-mates nothing but supportive.

"I am happy in Oldham and though I don't have family here, my family is the team," said Fane.

"I am Muslim and I have found a mosque in Oldham. This is very important for me.

"I need to pray every day to improve myself and my football.

"It can be difficult sometimes when we travel, but I have to manage because it is so important to me.

"It is not easy sometimes, but I find a way every time.

"It is my power for football and for everything."

So far this season, Fane has made 19 appearances for Athletic, including in the midweek 2-2 draw at Blackburn Rovers.

When asked about Athletic's potential fortunes this year, the promising Frenchman replied that a newly-built squad has enough within it to rise well above the bottom-four in League One.

"We are still improving. It was hard because nobody knew each other before," he said.

"Now, we have competition for every player in training and everyone knows they have to play well in every game.

"I think we can go higher. We need to improve but I think we can stay in this league and more."