DANNY Rogers is aiming to take his chance and stake his claim in John Sheridan’s Latics side.

The fit-again goalkeeper played his first league game since August last weekend after overcoming a spinal injury and a number of setbacks on his road to recovery.

Rogers returned to the senior squad in December but has had to bide his time for a first-team recall.

That opportunity came with Jayson Leutwiler away on international duty with Canada, and a patient Rogers responded with a clean sheet at home to Rochdale, in Sheridan’s first game back in charge.

And with Latics facing a crunch clash at relegation rivals Scunthorpe United this weekend, Rogers is again hoping to have an impact to help the team’s fight for survival and cement his own place in the line-up.

“This has to be my chance,” said the 27-year-old.

“I think it’s come at a good time for me, a new manager, I’ve come in, I’ve got a clean sheet.

“Jayson’s away but hopefully I’ve given the manager something to think about because sometimes you need a bit of luck in football and maybe the timing was my luck.

“I know results haven’t been great but he’s been solid. So when he comes back it will be the manager’s decision then.”

It may be early days but Rogers has praised the impact Sheridan has had since charge.

“Since the new manager’s come in it’s been pretty back to basics and we’ve kind of parked these ideas of playing out from the back and stuff and we’ve gone ‘we are bottom of League Two, let’s be hard to beat’ and I think we are all on board with that as well,” said the keeper.

“Obviously we need to start winning games but the more clean sheets we can get the more chance we give ourselves of winning.

“We do have quite a lot of clean sheets this season so we just need to build on that.”

And although Latics remain seven points adrift of safety, with a little under half of the season still to play Rogers insists it is no time to panic.

“I see it as 20 games, 60 points. That’s a lot of points to play for. People are getting carried away,” he said.

“There’s a good vibe around training.

“I think we are all feeling really positive about it, he has made a good impression with the fans, a very good impression with us and training has been really good.”