MATCH PREVIEW: Swindon Town v Oldham Athletic

John Sheridan will get his first taste of a full County Ground when he brings his new/old club Oldham Athletic to SN1 this Saturday for what is set to be a feisty League Two fixture between two sides at opposing ends of the table. Total Sport Swindon’s Joe Acklam gives his pre-match preview below.

Sheridan, 57, managed Swindon during their ill-fated 2020/21 season as they were relegated from League One behind closed doors and the Town faithful will be out in force to show their feelings towards the club’s second-worst ever manager by win percentage, only ahead of Paul Hart.

After a stuttering start to 2022, Town have now won four of their last six matches, although they were felled by Exeter on Tuesday night, knocking them out of the play-off places when, had they won, they would head into the Bartercard derby in the automatic promotion places.

The Owls have been on the road to recovery of late following Sheridan returning to Lancashire for the fourth time in a permanent berth, only losing twice since he was appointed in January, as part of the club’s “Shezeruction”.

However, like Sheridan requested of Dom Thompson at Portsmouth last season, his team have slowed down over the last few matches, having not won in their last three and suffering a potentially very damaging defeat to Carlisle last time out.

This season does not promise to be the first since 2008/09 that Oldham finishes in the top half of a table, when they finished tenth, as they still find themselves two points adrift of safety.

Previous meetings between the two clubs have been largely favourable for Swindon, having not been on the wrong end of a result since 2016, but there were only three wins in that time out of the six meetings, two of those coming in the last two games.

The last time Town took on a John Sheridan managed team was the first game of Richie Wellens’ tenure at the County Ground, in which they were dispatched 4-0, with another notable game against the Oldham boss being the defeat in the 2012 EFL Trophy final against Chesterfield.

Swindon’s chances of denting their former manager’s hope of survival will be hampered by the ongoing injuries and suspensions which left them threadbare on Tuesday at Exeter.

Harry McKirdy will serve the second game of his suspension, in addition to the continued absences of Joe Tomlinson, Brandon Cooper, Louie Barry, Ben Gladwin, and Jordan Lyden.

The visit of Oldham will also see the return of Hallam Hope and Christopher Missilou, both of whom played under Sheridan for Swindon last season.