KEITH Curle insists he still has the appetite for the challenges facing him at Oldham Athletic.

Latics remain second bottom of League Two after slumping to a 3-0 home defeat to Barrow – their fifth league loss of the season.

But an ever-increasing injury list and mounting unrest among supporters towards the Lemsagam regime is making the task facing head coach Curle even harder.

He insists, though, he is the man for the job.

“The challenge is still there to improve results and create an upward curve. I’ll improve this football club and I’ll improve the results,” said Curle.

“The job in hand is a difficult one, but I’ve got to say, it’s an enjoyable one. If things aren’t going your way, what you do is you can turn around and walk away and just say ‘it’s not for me’ or you make it work, and I’ve got the type of character and personality, and people around me that are on board that we will turn the results around.

"Different issues get thrown up every day, but as I’ve said before, it is what it is and I deal with it, and I don’t shy away from it. And that’s not an ignorance or an arrogance about that – I control the controllables, and to do that you need to know your remit, what your job is and have an understanding of the job and the tasks that are involved.

“Luckily enough I’ve got quite a bit of experience at being in difficult situations and creating an upward curve at football clubs. But the secret to it is, I don’t do it on my own. I get people around me, I get people on board. I get the media, the supporters, the staff, the players – they’ve all got to be on board and giving me a chance to improve their football club’s fortunes.”

And Curle insists these aren’t the worst conditions he has worked under in management, having arrived at Carlisle United in similar circumstances, and turned their fortunes around.

“The first game I walked in, bearing in mind we were four points adrift, bottom of League Two on the back of a relegation, the whole fanbase focus was on the directors’ box, gesticulating and chanting,” he explained.

“It then became more personal and more individual.

“I understood what my role was, which was to create a team that was representative of the football club, which meant they (the fans) wanted hard work, they wanted to see effort, they wanted to see guts, grit, determination.

“We stayed up that season, comfortably in the end, and then three top-10 finishes and a play-off finish.

“It is work in progress. I’m well aware of what’s going on in the background, but I’m not going to use it as an excuse.

“The performance (against Barrow) was a lack of discipline from the dressing room.”