19th February 2002 

It has been exclusively revealed to the Official Website that popular veteran midfielder John Sheridan has been forced to pull out of tonight's crunch clash with fellow promotion hopefuls Tranmere Rovers. Speaking this afternoon, Chief Executive Alan Hardy said that he had pulled out due to a necessary injection to his knee.  He is expected to be sidelined for 10 days. Lee Hardy has been drafted in as a last minute addition to the squad in John's absence. He is said to be disappointed to be forced to sit this one out.

Red to Blue...

oldhamathletic.co.uk can reveal that the Club has agreed terms with 24 year old, Manchester United right back Michael Clegg. Clegg, who has made 37 first team appearances for the Red Devils, will finalise his move to Boundary Park, once this morning's medical is complete. Which the Club expects no complications. The full back brings with him considerable experience having not only played in the Premiership but also in the Champions League against the likes of, Marseille and Dynamo Zagreb. The player, who signed for Manchester United just before turning 16, is best described as a tough tackling defender who has won a number of medals as he has climbed the ranks to break into United's first team. He was one of Fergie's Fledglings' who won the 1995 FA Youth Cup and then went on to win medals in 1996 and 1997 in the Pontins League. He was awarded the reserve player of the year in 1997 and has won the Manchester Senior Cup as he captained victory over the Latics in 1999. Clegg first appeared in the Premiership in November 1996, but places were limited as United had Phil Neville and Denis Irwin in full back positions. Rather than play reserve football Clegg had two loans spells at Ipswich Town and Division Two rivals Wigan Athletic (in which he played against Latics). He will undergo a medical today with a press photocall called for 10:30 on Wednesday 20th February.  
Wads Reaction To Clegg

Mick Wadsworth took time out of his busy schedule to express his delight at agreeing terms with Man Utd full back Michael Clegg. "Signing someone of Michael's calibre is yet another illustration of our desire as a Club to move forward. I am obviously delighted to attract someone with Premiership class to Boundary Park. "I believe Michael's signature is a real coup for us. Had he waited till the Summer I am sure he would have had lots of options, so to capture him now on a free is fantastic news for Boundary Park." Mick then spoke of the quality of the player. "For Manchester United to keep him on their books until he is nearly 25 is a very clear indication that he is an outstanding player with real ability." Should today's medical go according to plan the player could feature in the reserve game tomorrow at Boundary Park against Preston at 2:00pm. 

Despite still being one of the leading goalscorers in the second division, with 11, Stuart Barlow hasn’t scored since November 10th, when he netted the winner against promotion rivals QPR at Loftus Road.  For the former Everton, Oldham and Wigan striker chances since then have been few and far between, with the form of Jason Price, Wayne Allison and Paul Rideout but he has featured in the last five matches. The 4-0 defeat at Spurs was deemed harsh by everyone who saw the game, but the players have the perfect opportunity to put things right tonight when they take on Oldham at Boundary Park: “After the game with Spurs we were all disappointed initially but then we just started talking about the game and saying how good they were and now we’re all looking forward to the match at Oldham because that’s more important, certainly as far as I’m concerned and I’m sure if you asked the rest of the players and staff, they’d agree. “We were outclassed and there’s no point moping around about it. If it was a team below us in the third division then we’d have been gutted but we went out to a good side, so there’s no shame in that. "The game on Tuesday is an excellent chance to put the defeat out of our minds. If we can get a good win at Oldham and then another on Friday then we can jump into the top six so fingers crossed. “We’ve had a little bit of a sticky patch of late but we feel we can get a result at Oldham. We know they’re doing well but it should be a good game.” A win tonight is essential if Rovers are to achieve their ambition of promotion at the first attempt, something everyone is well aware of: “We feel like we have got a good enough squad here to be in the top six at least. There have been weeks where we haven’t done ourselves justice, we’ve dropped points against teams we should have beaten and the likes of Brighton and Huddersfield away we should have come away with at least two draws, we feel or probably a win and a draw but it wasn’t to be. “Brighton have done that all season, they’ve won 2-1 or 1-0 for most of the season but all credit to them they’ve done well but it’s important now that after coming down last season we can get back up there. "We are only striving for one thing this season and that’s promotion, the cups were nice but our bread and better is the league and we know how important it is for this club to be up there.” The main concern for Rovers fans has been the lack of goals in recent weeks, with only six goals having been scored in the last 8 league games compared with the 19 in the previous eight, but while the side are still creating chances the players aren’t too concerned: “For the first half of the season there were goals going in from everywhere, Flynny is on 10 or 11, Jason Price, Jason Koumas and myself are all on the same and you look round the whole team and they’re all contributing with goals so it’s been a good season as far as scoring goes. “If you look at the league we’re about the second or third leading scorers and then we’re the leading scorers in the cup so the goals have been there but we’d have liked to have spread out a couple of the 4-0 wins and have made the 0-0’s into 1-0 victories. “Personally I don’t feel that they are relying on me to score the goals and Pricey probably feels the same. We’re not relying on individuals to score but we’re just having a bit of a dry spell. “We’re still creating chances, at Spurs we could have come away with two or three goals but on the day you need a bit of luck and I’m sure the goals will come again and as far and I’m concerned and the team’s concerned then we hope they start coming again on Tuesday night.”