MARCEL Hilssner is relishing his first taste of English football after a delayed start to life in the EFL.

The German arrived at Coventry last summer with high hopes of making an impact in the Championship.

But having signed a three-year deal to move from SC Paderborn, the 26-year-old saw his progress derailed by an asthma issue.

Fast forward a few months and he was on the move again, this time on loan to Latics in the January transfer window, having not kicked a ball in anger for Mark Robins’ Sky Blues.

Hilssner has been thrust straight into action by Harry Kewell though and has quickly established himself as a key figure at Boundary Park in his five appearances thus far.

“Coventry just told me to go and get some games and when I left I wasn’t far away from the first team, that wasn’t the problem,” the former Werder Bremen youngster told The Oldham Times.

“The only problem was really game-time. When I arrived in the UK, I got the injury in the summer with asthma and things and I’m now really fit and they want me to get some match fitness and a rhythm.

“I feel good, I feel better from game-to-game. The gaffer gave me my first 90 minutes after just two days and it was a nice feeling to be back on the pitch.

“I think it’s a good opportunity here with so many games and that’s good, I’m enjoying my first footsteps in English football.

“The team is very good, we’re playing good football and I’m getting fitter every week.”

Despite his desire to really make an impact in the second half of the season, Hilssner is well aware that the chances of him playing every game are slim, with Latics playing 14 games in a little over seven weeks.

“It’s going to be a tough seven weeks and it will just be a case of recover, recover, recover in between the games,” he said.

“There’s not much time so it’s going to be impossible to play every game.

"We’ve got a big squad, a good squad and we’ll have to change a little bit for every game so that everybody is fresh.”

Oldham head to promotion-chasing Tranmere today down in 17th in League Two after Tuesday night’s 4-3 defeat in another goal-fest at Forest Green.

The table is tightly-packed with most sides having something to play for, not that Hilssner is paying too much attention to the bigger picture.

“We don’t have to look at the table now, let’s see what the next game is,” he said.

“I know when you win two or three games in a row you can move up the table maybe five or six positions and it’s very close to the play-off places.

“We just have to keep our eye on the next game and if we can win two or three then we can look at the table and maybe look what’s happened there.”