IT COULD have been Stuart McCall talking about City missing out on deadline day.

His frustration at not landing target Kristian Dennis on Wednesday will resonate with tomorrow’s opposing manager Richie Wellens.

The Oldham boss had hoped to bring in three late recruits to breathe life into a team without a win in nine games.

But, like McCall, he struck out after unsuccessful moves for former Bantam Devante Cole – who ended up leaving Fleetwood for Wigan – and defender Matt Mills, as well as a couple of late striker offers.

Wellens admitted: “It’s very frustrating. I spent 14 hours at the club and wanted three of my players in – but I didn’t get one done.

“We agreed a deal with Matt Mills but he decided to go to Barnsley because we couldn’t give him an extra year on the contract.

“We bid early in the morning for Devante Cole and probably could have got that done if we were more aggressive and quicker.

“There was a chance for Joe Mason at Wolves but that wasn’t going to happen. And I tried to get in Omar Bogle but he was already on his way to Peterborough.”

Eoin Doyle, their top scorer on 14 goals, has come back from Preston for the rest of the season after ignoring Scunthorpe’s interest. But the Irishman will probably miss another five games with a blood clot.

Wellens may hand a first start up front to Duckens Nazon, who joined on loan from Wolves last week, after he came off the bench in the 2-1 home loss to Plymouth.

That extended a miserable run for the third-bottom Latics, who have picked up only three points from a possible 27 since beating Northampton 5-1 on December 9.

Oldham’s other late signing was French defender Wilfried Moimbe on a short-term deal.

He was recently released by Nantes, the club closely tied in with Oldham’s new owner Abdallah Lemsagam.

A former Moroccan football agent, Lemsagam completed his takeover from Simon Corney a week ago.