KEITH Curle has told his players actions will speak louder than words if they are to convince him they are worth a place in his side.

The Latics boss said he did not see enough fight as Latics slumped to a disappointing 4-1 defeat in their penultimate game of the season away to Mansfield on Saturday.

The Stags could have been out of sight by half-time after pinning Oldham back in their own half but only managed to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

Zak Dearnley reduced the deficit on his comeback from injury early in the second half.

But it was a rare mistake by Mansfield and Nigel Clough's men went on to show their dominance once more to score twice in the last 10 minutes.

Latics players looked deflated at full-time, but Curle said: "I think it's quite easy to look down and disappointed, sad eyes.

"It doesn't impress me, it doesn't blag me either.

"You get 90-95 minutes out there (on the pitch), you show your disappointment out there, not in the changing room. It's easy there.

"We've got a changing room that say all the right things before the game, say they're going to do this and that, but then they don't do it."

And Curle reiterated that he will take a firm stance on team selection regardless on individuals' contract situations.

"It's one of those things in football, if a club wants to go on a journey and wants to go in a direction and if players aren't able to consistently put performances in they don't go on that journey with them, they find another bus stop and they go and find another football club to go and put in mediocre, average performances that they think are acceptable," said the 57-year-old.

"If you've got players that consistently can't do the simple things repeatedly well and don't value the importance of doing the simple things, you can never move forward.

"(Change) happens year in year out at every football club.

"If the football club have visions of the journey they want to go on you've got to make sure that you're able to go on that journey or you get left aside, or you choose another direction to go in."

Asked whether he felt he could get more out of existing players if he was able to work with them for a full pre-season, Curle added: "With that group in there? No. They've had enough chances.

"There are some pieces that you'd put on top of the cake in there, but there's no cake."