HARRY Kewell has called for patience from supporters – believing the progress of his Latics squad will be slower than a normal season due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Oldham head coach pulled no punches after the midweek defeat to Mansfield Town at Boundary Park, a ninth in 12 League Two games on home soil this season

Now Latics head to Walsall with one new player in their ranks in the form of Coventry City loanee Marcel Hilssner.

He is the first of a few new faces Kewell wants to bring in to supplement his squad, wanting to add both quality and depth given the issues that could arise around coronavirus-related cancellations in the second half of the season.

And having inherited just eight players on his arrival at the club in August, Kewell thinks the pandemic has also hindered his ability to gel a squad together.

Team bonding sessions and nights out are still out of the question at the midway point of the League Two campaign with no signs of that easing in the near future.

“We’re lucky to have a squad like this because it is a good squad,” Kewell said.

“It is a squad that’s young and wants to learn and I know we need to put experience in there but we only had eight players at the start.

“We have to be patient. Especially in times like this, it’s very hard to put together a magnificent squad.

“If we were sitting top of the table everyone would think I was a miracle worker but that’s not the case. It’s real life.

“We’re still new, we’re still learning bits and pieces off each other.

“And people may say ‘you’ve had six months’, but we’re living in different times. We can’t go out and have team sessions and build understandings.

“We’re still slowly progressing.”