Ex-Mansfield Town boss Keith Curle happy with Oldham Athletic’s third clean sheet in four games

“It's a third clean sheet in four so it's a starting point and shows me are trying to build a foundation whereby we are difficult to beat. That's not bad as clean sheets were at a premium last season,” he said.

“We are creating opportunities too so that and not conceding is not a bad starting point.

“We needed to make sure we had a game plan and it took us 15-20 minutes for the players to feel comfortable within in and I thought we finished the half very well.

“We knew they'd be up for it first 10 minutes of the second half so we didn't enter into a game of football, just put balls into good areas.

“We looked an attacking threat after that and had balls bouncing in their box which are a tap-in if we are on the move. We have to be more pre-emptive.”

He added: “With the quality Mansfield have got, even with the number of players they have missing, they are going to put you under pressure. So the first 15-20 minutes was no surprise to us.

“Once we settled I thought we dominated and had the best chances in the first half with the second half much more even.”