Dragged back in

I told you they’d eventually drag us back in.

Two draws and a win from Crawley, Wycombe and Huddersfield would be seen as a good return for a side that had struggled in February.

But in true Latics fashion they up-ended that to win against Huddersfield as opposed to Crawley.

In fairness to Latics the last three performances have been very good.

Especially as Darcy, Dale and the other January signings settle in.

It’s a completely different side than which we started the season with and one can only wonder what we may have achieved if we had started the season with some of those lads.

Owen Dale bagged his first goal on Tuesday night and was central to everything we did on Tuesday.

In stark contrast to some of the comments about him on deadline day he’s clearly a key component of what Shaun Maloney wants to achieve, and although it’s unfair on a young lad like Silko Thomas who worked hard for us it’s definitely an upgrade on what we had before.

What more can be said about Dale Taylor that’s hasn’t already been said?

Maloney revealed in January and again in midweek that they had tried to sign Taylor permanently last summer.

His signing and that of Dale on permanent deals must be a priority in the summer.

Now one of those may be easier to achieve than the other, if Taylor keeps putting in performances like he has for us this season he may end up putting himself out of reach. But that’s a debate for a different day.

Ronan Darcy is another quickly settling in to his new surroundings.

He’s never going to be Thelo Aasgaard but his all round energy and creativity will quickly see him as a fan favourite, just as Crawley fans told us he would when his signing was met with less than muted appreciation in WN5.

A word as well for ‘Big’ Toby Sibbick, he’s made that right back spot his own and his performance on Tuesday was that of a player full of confidence.

This week has seen some much needed positivity visit the Brick.

The key now is for Maloney and his team to get some much needed consistency to ensure we carry on putting as much space between ourselves and the bottom four.

Reading are next up at the Brick, a real crisis club but who like us last season are upsetting the odds.

It won’t be easy but if we carry on Tuesday nights performance then who knows.

Sean Livesey

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