Oldham assistant boss Alan Maybury was delighted to see Zak Dearnley’s fine form continue as he fired his side to a 2-1 Sky Bet League Two victory at Southend despite not being fully fit.

The former Manchester United trainee scored a last-minute winner as he netted for the fourth-successive game.

Maybury said: “He was 50/50 with a knock and he certainly wasn’t fit enough to play 90 minutes. But he’s come on and contributed again, just like he has in the last few weeks.

“It was a great finish and it’s won us the game.”

The win pushed Oldham up to 20th in the standings and piled more misery on the bottom-of-the-table Shrimpers who have yet to win this season.

But Maybury – who took charge of the team with manager Harry Kewell absent after testing positive for coronavirus last week – felt the Latics were worthy winners.

“We got the goal and were on top in the second half,” said Maybury. “We hit the post, we felt comfortable and should have scored more.

“But fair to their boy, he’s put it right in the top corner from the free-kick and it’s shaken us up a bit.

“We showed good character and fitness to get a goal at the end though and it’s a good win which I felt we deserved.”

After an uneventful first half, the Latics took the lead just four minutes into the second period when a left-wing cross from Cameron Borthwick-Jackson picked out Bobby Grant, who fired home from close range.

Southend equalised in the 76th minute with left-back Tom Clifford scoring the first senior goal of his career as he fired home a 25-yard free-kick via the inside of the right post.

Brandon Goodship then sent a free-kick against the crossbar for the hosts and Oldham made the most of the let off with substitute Dearnley rounding an advancing Mark Oxley before firing into an unguarded goal.

The late winner piled more misery on the Shrimpers who are back in court on Wednesday over a winding-up petition from HMRC.

But boss Mark Molesley insists he is focusing on just the football and found the latest setback tough to take.

“It’s tough times at the moment and there’s no hiding from it,” said Molesley.

“We have to dig deep and we’ve been sucker-punched a couple of times now.

“We had a lot of the ball and we should definitely have had a penalty but we can’t feel sorry for ourselves.

“We have to keep working hard.”