HE may have been the hero of the hour – but two-goal Callum Lang heaped praise on a fearsome defensive effort as Oldham upset Tranmere.

Pete Wild’s Latics kept the lid on League Two’s form team at Boundary Park, running out 2-0 winners as Rovers arrived in search of an eighth successive league win.

Wigan loanee Lang took his tally for the season to 14 goals, drilling home in the first half before notching with another composed finish midway through the second period, but he was delighted with the resolve shown by his team-mates.

“It’s a great result – obviously they’re a team in form,” said the 20-year-old, who also thought it was key Oldham nullified League Two’s top scorer, striker James Norwood.

“It was going to be hard for us but how well we defended; I think that’s the best we’ve defended all season and credit to Clarkey (Peter Clarke) and George [Edmundson] and the full-backs, Tom (Hamer) and Alex (Iacovitti).

“The back four’s been really solid, so fair play to them because I think that was the big part of the game.

“We knew we had to snuff out the danger and obviously Norwood has scored a lot of goals and if we kept him quiet, I think we had a real chance.

“As long as we took our chances, we knew we had a chance and the defending was class.

“There’s confidence with the boys in midfield. They didn’t stop running all game and they can pass the ball around. They’re all good on the ball and good players, so it’s been great for us.”

Success against high-flying Tranmere ensured Oldham avoided an ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ eventuality, having returned to winning ways with a 2-0 success at home to Grimsby last weekend.

Lang now wants to see his team maintain their upward momentum under boss Pete Wild.

He said: “It was a big test for us and off the back of beating Grimsby, I think, not to be disrespectful to Grimsby, but there are lots of tougher tests and you want to prove you can back that three points up with another three points or a draw.

“You’d have taken a draw, I’d say, with the form they’ve been on.

“Obviously, we want the three points and that’s what we’ve got – but I just think Pete’s come in, he’s given us a lift, and we want to keep the run going.”