McCann taking Latics seriously

FREE from suspension, midfielder Paul Green is an injury doubt for tomorrow's visit of Peterborough United

THERE may be 16 places between the two sides in Sky Bet League One, but Peterborough United boss Grant McCann has warned his players not to to take Athletic lightly tomorrow.

Still third-from-bottom in the third tier, Athletic and their new boss Steve Robinson have shown they're up for the fight with impressive attacking performances at Scunthorpe and Port Vale in the past week, so maybe that's why McCann is wary.

Some people do believe Athletic ought to be higher up the table, and McCann is clearly one of those as he prepares for the visit to SportsDirect.com Park.

He said: "Oldham have beaten Scunthorpe once and could easily have beaten them again last weekend.

"They created lots of chances and they could well have been 3-0 up before they fell behind.

"In my mind they are in a false position in the league.

"They are one of the best footballing sides in the division and they will soon be climbing the table.

"My players have been told all this and they will not be complacent.

"We've been on a good run and we now want to start another one after losing to Scunthorpe ourselves.

"If we beat Oldham we can say that November has been the best month of the season so far for us and improvement month by month is something I've been looking for."

As for Robinson, it remains to be seen whether he'll make changes for tomorrow's home test against a Posh side who won the corresponding fixture 5-1 last season.

Although available after serving a one-match ban, Athletic midfielder Paul Green is battling a calf injury.

Athletic impressed in Tuesday's 2-2 draw at Vale Park, where sub Carl Winchester grabbed a late equaliser.

Robinson said: "I was disappointed we didn't come away with the result, particularly after scoring two goals away from home, but the boys showed great character again.

"We had 17 shots at goal and for 75, maybe 80 minutes of the game, we totally dominated.

"That seems to have been the way over the last four or five games, and when they went 2-1 up, I thought 'here we go again'.

"But the lads dug in, showed character, and managed to come back to earn a point."