Rival bosses in cauldron

POINTING THE WAY . . . David Dunn is looking to make it three wins in a row.

Dunn: I couldn’t care less about ex-manager - my only concern is doing well for Latics

ALL eyes will trained on the technical areas when the teams and coaching staff take their places close to kick-off for Saturday’s Barnsley game.

But while there will no doubt be a heightened atmosphere due to the presence of Lee Johnson, at least one person in the ground takes no interest whatsoever in the narrative of the returning former boss.

And that is Athletic’s own manager, David Dunn.

The 35-year-old, who like Johnson has started his managerial career at SportsDirect.com Park, has not crossed paths too many times with the Tykes boss during his playing career and says he is simply concentrating on the match itself — with the potential of a third straight win for Athletic in the offing.

“I am not really too fussed about who is coming back and what they are doing,” Dunn said. “I have no real interest in that.

“The only thing I want to do is do well for Oldham Athletic and try to get our players prepared the best they can.

“The fact it is the ex-manager is no concern of mine. I couldn’t really care less.”

What did get Dunn’s juices flowing, however, was the positive reaction from the home supporters during the victory over Mansfield.

That was a first triumph on home soil since the second week of the season, and Dunn’s maiden victory at SportsDirect.com Park.

He felt it had been coming and that belief was bolstered by a conversation with one of his former managers at Ewood Park, Sam Allardyce.

“It was great to win at home. People have been wanting us to win more home games for a long time and I hope I can be the man to do that — without getting too carried away, because we have only won one game here,” Dunn added.

“I want to make this place a real fortress. The fans got behind the lads and though there were not as many there have been, they really made themselves heard and seemed to have smiles on their faces which was good.

“Even if we go back to Burton, we were so unlucky not to win that game. Our performances deserve better and I am not worried one little bit about those draws.

“I spoke to Big Sam about it. He said the more you draw, the morale gets better and eventually you will turn them into wins. I believe that.

“Back-to-back wins is a big tick and I am glad about it, but we have done nothing yet and need to push on.

“There is no point getting too carried away.”

While issuing that note of caution, Dunn also emphasised his confidence in the squad to add to the recent positive results.

“We have a belief in the dressing room we can go out and win every game. The next two will be no different,” Dunn said, with a home game at Southend on Tuesday following the Barnsley fixture.

“We will be hard to beat, play on the front foot and win our individual battles all over the pitch.

“If we do that, we know we have good players who can open up teams and score good goals.”