Oldham Athletic v FC Halifax Town preview

Venue: Boundary Park

Date: Saturday, October 12

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: Richard Aspinall showed 67 yellow cards and three red cards in 14 games last season. He took charge of Town's 0-0 home draw with Dagenham and Redbridge in September, their 1-0 home win over Wealdstone in November and their 1-0 away win at Dagenham and Redbridge in February as well as Oldham's 0-0 home draw with Dorking in September and their 2-1 home defeat to Gateshead in December.

In the league this season

Oldham - 6th: PL13 W6 D5 L2 F19 A14 GD5 Pts23

Halifax - 8th: PL13 W5 D5 L3 F15 A12 GD3 Pts20

Last five games

Oldham: Woking (a) W 3-1, Yeovil (h) W 1-0, Forest Green (h) W 1-0, Ebbsfleet (a) W 2-1, Solihull (h) L 3-2

Halifax: Maidenhead (a) W 1-0, Braintree (a) L 1-0, Wealdstone (h) D 2-2, Newcastle u21s (h) L 2-1, Tamworth (h)

Manager: Micky Mellon has previously achieved promotion on five occasions with three different clubs, leading Fleetwood to the National League title in 2012 having taken them up to the fifth tier two seasons earlier. He then plotted Tranmere’s return to the EFL in 2018 - part of a back-to-back promotion which saw him guide them to League One.

One to watch: Striker Mike Fondop scored four goals on loan for Halifax during the 2017-18 season and has also played for clubs including Chesterfield, Hartlepool, Burton and Wrexham. He joined Oldham in January 2022 and has scored five goals in 12 league appearances this season.

Head-to-head: Played 43, Oldham wins 16, draws 14, Halifax wins 13

Last time they met: Adam Senior cancelled out Mark Kitching's opener as the teams drew 1-1 at The Shay on September 10.

Match facts: No team has conceded as few away goals in the National League this season than Halifax (2) but no team has scored fewer on the road than Town either (3).

Only top two Barnet and Forest Green have lost fewer National League games this season than Oldham (1) while only York have lost fewer matches in the fifth tier this season than The Latics (2)

Oldham have scored in each of their seven home matches this season and have only failed to score once in their last 15 home outings.

The Latics have only kept three clean sheets in their 13 games this season.