OLDHAM boss Pete Wild admits his side have still got a chance of making the play-offs after the Latics downed Colchester.

Wild – who only took over at the end of last month after Paul Scholes’ acrimonious departure – has seen his side climb to 11th in the standings.

They have won three in a row and are five points off the play-offs after goals from Alex Iacovitti and Callum Lang sealed the win.

But Wild – who is in caretaker charge for the rest of the season – is trying to keep his side focused on the job in front of them rather than dreaming of a play-off push.

“A week ago we were 16th and we’re now 11th,” he said.

“But we’re not getting carried away and the play-offs are not in my mind.

“Swindon is in my mind because if you start thinking ‘we’ll win here or we’ll win there’ you end up getting egg on your face.

“We’ll just take one game at a time and see where it takes us.

“We’ve given ourselves a chance now but we’re not going to get carried away.

“We’re working hard and we’re trying our best.

“We’ll just keeping working hard and what we’ve said to the boys is that we’ve just got to take each game as it comes and if we do well and work hard, we’ve always got a chance.”

Wild named an unchanged Latics line-up for their trip to the JobServe Community Stadium, following their victory over Tranmere Rovers in midweek.

And they started well against Colchester, dictating all of the tempo early on.

Tom Hamer’s right-foot shot sailed narrowly past the post from 25 yards in the third minute for the Latics.

And it proved to be a sign of what was to come, as Oldham took the lead two minutes later.

Iacovitti swept home low unmarked from close range after Lang and then Peter Clarke had headed into his path, following Gevaro Nepomuceno’s corner.

It was a deserved lead for Oldham and things got even better for them in the 13th minute.

Colchester goalkeeper Dillon Barnes inexplicably kicked Frankie Kent's over-hit back pass straight into Lang's path and the Oldham striker clinically fired into the net for 2-0 and his 14th goal of the season.

Colchester’s Ben Stevenson headed over after Oldham had only partially cleared Kane Vincent-Young’s deflected cross.

But Oldham almost scored a third after 20 minutes when Lang ran at the Colchester defence and saw his deflected shot pushed away by Barnes for a corner.

And the Latics, who were well organised and difficult to break down, went close again midway through the first half when Chris Missilou’s 30-yard strike was plucked out of the air superbly by Barnes at full stretch.

Vincent-Young curled straight at Latics keeper Dan Iversen from the edge of the area just before the half-hour mark.

And Colchester had a penalty shout rejected when Courtney Senior raced onto Sammie Szmodics’ pass and fell under Clarke’s challenge in the area.

But Oldham went in at the break two goals ahead and deserved their advantage at the break.

Colchester stepped up the tempo a little in the second half and Luke Norris headed straight at Iversen, just before the hour mark for the hosts.

But keeper Barnes was called into action again for the hosts midway through the second half when he pushed away Lang’s low 25-yard shot for a corner.

Iversen was called into action with eight minutes remaining when he pushed away substitute Brennan Dickenson’s curled left foot free kick.

But Oldham defended superbly and saw out the final stages for a big away win.

Oldham Athletic: Iversen 8, Hamer 8, Clarke 9, Edmundson 8, Iacovitti 8, Branger 8 (Afolayan 65, 7), Missilou 8 (Sylla 76), Maouche 8, Nepomuceno 8, Lang 9, O’Grady 8.

Subs not used: De La Paz, Coke, Hunt, Sefil, Benteke.

Colchester United: Barnes 5, Jackson 5, Prosser 5, Kent 5, Vincent-Young 5, Lapslie 5 (Dickenson 71, 6), Stevenson 5, Senior 5, Szmodics 7, Eisa 5 (Nouble 46, 7), Norris 5 (Mandron 65, 6).

Subs not used: Eastman, Wright, Saunders, Ross.

Referee: Lee Swabey.

Attendance: 3, 975.