Wednesday 7 December 2011 15:48, UK
Oldham manager Paul Dickov is hoping to keep his loan stars until the end of the season.
Dickov currently has five loanees on the books at Boundary Park and they have produced key contributions in recent weeks. On Tuesday night, Manchester City forward Luca Scapuzzi laid on the opening goal for Norwich midfielder Tom Adeyemi in Latics' 2-0 Johnstone's Paint Trophy northern section semi-final victory over Bradford. "All the loan players, we're hoping to extend in January and keep them here until the end of the season," said Dickov. "We made a decision in the summer, I've got to thank the chairman for it, and we want to keep the whole squad together for the whole season." Dickov has already extended the loan of Scapuzzi's City team-mate and compatriot Andreas Mancini for a further month, despite the 19-year-old midfielder making a solitary substitute appearance since his move from the Etihad Stadium last month. "It's no secret that when he first came he wasn't fit enough, but his fitness is getting there," Dickov added. "He's working ever so hard in training. It's a time coming up when we've got a lot of games coming up in a short space of time, we're going to need all the bodies we can get, and the one thing Andreas has is quality and he's getting fitter."
