Changes afoot!

Oldham Athletic players in yoga session at GloGym in North Stand

SHORT, sharp sessions are the order of the day for Athletic's happy campers, as manager John Sheridan promised to again shake up his line-up at Walsall tomorrow.

In-form defender Brian Wilson is expected to be fit again and with Chris Taylor rested at Northampton, a game in which substitute Lee Erwin scored the winner, Athletic's boss said he won't simply name the same starting XI as at Sixfields.

A run of five matches without defeat - the last loss was the 1-0 reverse at MK Dons - has left the dressing room a contented place.

But in upping the intensity while decreasing the minutes of his sessions during the week, Sheridan says it's down to whoever he picks for the Saddlers clash to be ready.

"I like players to be happy in training, to look as though they are enjoying coming in every day," said Sheridan. "That's the feeling at the moment.

"I've been told training is a bit shorter, but I like everything done at a really good tempo. We are different in the way we work.

"There is a good vibe and spirit and they are laughing and joking. And when we work, we work.

"There will be changes at Walsall. It won't be the same as the other night. I am comfortable with whoever I put in the team.

"There might be a surprise. I am not frightened of it and I try to keep them all on their toes.

"One or two might be thrown in when they don't expect it.

"Walsall play a 3-5-2. I will change it purely to benefit us and purely to get the result we are after."

On another important day of fixtures in Sky Bet League One, Bury host Gillingham, Chesterfield travel to Swindon and Shrewsbury play visitors Coventry as six of the division's bottom-eight face off against each other.

DISCUSSING

Walsall enter the game on the back of four straight home wins and Sheridan made reference to his experience in League Two four years ago when discussing how many points might be needed to stay safe this time.

"At Plymouth in similar circumstances, we were playing on the last day of the season with 52 points and still could have gone down. It was similar then, with all the teams winning at the bottom.

"Everyone says 52 is the benchmark, but you just don't know. There are teams on 40 or 42 points who were involved in it, with teams on a roll and catching them. It could be really tight.

"We will be staying focused. We haven't done anything yet and we are still right in the mix."

Athletic (probable, 4-2-3-1): Ripley; McLaughlin, Clarke, Gerrard, Hunt; Green, Banks; Taylor, O'Neill, Obadeyi; Amadi-Holloway.

Subs (from): Kettings, Law, Wilson, Edmundson, Reckord, Croft, Flynn, Ngoo, Erwin, Osei.

Tomorrow's fixtures in Sky Bet League One -

Rochdale v Sheffield Utd; Bolton v Wimbledon; Bury v Gillingham; Millwall v MK Dons; Northampton v Charlton; Oxford Utd v Bristol Rovers; Bradford v Peterborough Utd; Scunthorpe Utd v Fleetwood; Shrewsbury v Coventry City; Southend v Port Vale; Swindon v Chesterfield; Walsall v ATHLETIC.