DINO Maamria picked out Zak Emmerson’s first Latics start as a positive from the humbling EFL Trophy exit at Fleetwood.

Oldham went down 5-2 at Highbury as Joey Barton’s side sealed progression to the next round.

The game was all but up for Latics after just 13 minutes, League One Town racing into a three-goal advantage.

Maamria had made changes including putting 15-year-old striker Emmerson in from the start, the teenager having previously appeared late off the bench in the League Two games at home to Walsall and Northampton.

“I thought that Zak Emmerson equipped himself really well for his full debut,” said the Latics boss.

“I thought he was fantastic for a 15-year-old.

"It's more disappointing for the rest of his teammates that they didn't help him out but I thought he worked really hard, he had nice touches, he got hold of the ball well in tight areas, he played well."

Despite the disappointing nature of the defeat, Maamria looked at the bigger picture and admitted that being out of the competition might not be such a bad thing with League Two and FA Cup commitments to come.

"To be fair I think we are probably better out of the competition, we haven't got the depth in the squad to deal with it,” he told the club website.

"I don't get carried away with the scoreline because the process hasn't changed. I’m here, it’s a long job and a tough job.

"We have a lot of changes to make, we've got what we've got at the moment.

"Sometimes you come up short and we definitely came up short against a good Fleetwood team.

"I think to give anyone three goals in 15 minutes it’s going to be a tough evening, it could have got a lot worse but in the second-half we changed a few things and we had a better go."