SELIM Benachour said he felt sorry for the players after Latics suffered a last-minute defeat to Tranmere Rovers.

Benachour, who has been in interim charge for almost a fortnight after Keith Curle left the club, felt Oldham had been the better team against Micky Mellon's men.

But after being denied by the woodwork and a goalline clearance as well as having a goal chalked off because of an infringement at a corner, Benachour says luck was against them as Charlie Jolley grabbed a late goal for the visitors.

"We showed a lot of good patterns, a lot of good football, we had some chances in the first half and we scored a goal that, for me, it's unbelievable that they cancelled it.

"I feel sorry for the players, they gave everything. We hit the bar, we had chances from Zak (Dearnley) in the second half, we had chances from Davies (Keillor-Dunn) in the first half. We created chances but we were not efficient in the final third, we can do better. But we need to keep faith and keep working and bounce back quickly."

He added: "I feel sorry for them, they gave everything.

"We are heading in the right direction. We showed a lot of desire and we had a lot of chances.

"I'm sure playing like that it will bring points."

Benachour confirmed that Jordan Clarke was missing through injury, while Ouss Cisse went off early in the second half with a shoulder injury.