SELIM Benachour has urged his players not to put excessive focus on the League Two table in a bid to keep the pressure off.

Latics slumped to 92nd position in the Football League after a Boxing Day defeat to Scunthorpe United, who had previously occupied bottom place but climbed to 22nd, level on points with Carlisle in 21st.

Oldham go into their final game of 2021 at Barrow tonight (kick-off 7.45pm) three points adrift of safety after picking up just one point from the last five.

But Benachour said they must quickly forget about Boxing Day in particular and turn all their attentions onto the next game in what is a busy and crucial period.

"Of course we need to see the league table, but we will succeed playing to our strengths and not playing against our strengths.

"We are bottom but it doesn't mean anything yet.

"We need to work hard and we need to bounce back, and it's good that the game is coming quick. We need to turn these things in our favour.

"But it's disappointing (being bottom) but at the end of the day we need to focus, to improve in some areas and I need to find a solution quick.

"We have a lot of games still in our hands.”

And Benachour used Bolton Wanderers’ remarkable climb to promotion as an example of how fast fortunes can change.

"Bolton last year after 25 games were 20th. In football if you win two, three or four games you are out of this zone,” said the interim head coach, reiterating that Latics need to play to their strengths.

“(Against Scunthorpe) we played a little bit longer and we don't play to our strengths.

"We played the game that they like and that's why we lost.”

Admitting that the second half against their relegations rivals was difficult to watch he added: “We lost the game in the second half. We lost the midfield battle, we lost the first ball, we lost the second half and we were not good enough in the middle.

"We need to bounce back.”