Kingstone Press League 1 Preview: Oldham v London Skolars

Oldham are sitting at the top of League 1 with a 100 per cent record but coach Scott Naylor is taking nothing for granted when they entertain London Skolars this week.

“At home we’re pretty confident no matter who we play,” he said. “We had a good league campaign last year at home and were undefeated for the first time in 20 odd years.

“Since I’ve taken over we’ve had tricky games against London Skolars, they’re one of those teams where form doesn’t matter. We’ve had tough games against them both home and away.”

London Skolars, who lost 36-10 at home to Gloucestershire All Golds last week, are expecting a tough encounter at Oldham.

Coach Jermaine Coleman said: “Oldham are one of the better teams, especially on their home pitch, and they play it very well. It’s probably the hardest challenge I’ve faced so far with the team.

“Last week was very disappointing. I was disappointed with our overall performance, because I thought we let ourselves down.

“We didn’t start very well and were very lethargic and slow. We were 20 points down at half-time before we got into the game.

“The reaction after half-time was good, it’s a step forward and was progress from where we were when I took over so I was happy in that respect but disappointed with the result and the way we conducted ourselves.”

The Skolars will be without half-back James Anthony, who has a hamstring injury and hooker Danny Burke is side-lined with possible knee ligament damage