Oldham Athletic manager Micky Mellon has admitted his side are “down to the bare bones” ahead of their Carabao Cup preliminary round clash with Accrington Stanley.
The Latics boss is facing a mounting injury list and is unable to call on youth team reinforcements due to academy restrictions.
Injury Crisis Leaves Mellon With Limited Squad
Mellon confirmed that Oldham will head into the Accrington tie with virtually the same squad that featured in Saturday’s season opener, after a string of pre-season injuries decimated his options.
Key absentees include on-loan winger Kai Payne, midfielders Tom Pett and Harry Charsley, striker Joe Garner and right-back Jake Caprice. Charsley, who underwent hip surgery last season, has suffered a fresh setback, while Caprice continues to recover from a long-term hamstring issue.
“We are down to the bare bones,” Mellon said. “We don’t have really many more options than what we went with on Saturday. All those who started, the subs that you saw, and Josh Kay are the only fit and available players that we have.”
The Oldham boss added that the current injuries stem from tackles and knocks picked up during pre-season fixtures. With no senior players expected back in the immediate term, Mellon has no choice but to persevere with what he has.
Academy Limitations Compound Selection Issues
The situation is worsened by the club’s inability to draft in youth players. Although Oldham recently regained EFL status and have been granted Category 3 academy status, they are not permitted to use homegrown players in this round of the competition due to the previous loss of their academy setup.
“We’re not allowed. We haven’t got any homegrown players because we had our academy taken away from us last year,” Mellon explained. “So we need to go with those boys again, but they’ll be all right. They’re robust and they’ll keep going.”
Despite the limited squad, Mellon remains upbeat about the task ahead and insists the team will be going into Tuesday’s cup tie with a winning mentality.
“It’s another game that we are looking to win,” he said. “We’ll trust this group and we’ll do what we need to do to keep getting results.”
Writer’s View
Oldham’s return to the EFL has come with immediate challenges, and this injury crisis is an early test of Micky Mellon’s leadership. The lack of available players, compounded by the academy restrictions, places added strain on the squad.
However, Mellon’s belief in his core group could foster a tighter unit in the early weeks of the season. A positive result at Accrington under such conditions would be a real statement of resilience.
