John Sheridan believes Oldham have the character to avoid relegation after they earned a 3-3 draw at promotion-chasing Newport to remain unbeaten since he returned to the club.

Sheridan is yet to taste defeat in his fourth permanent spell as Latics manager, with two wins and two draws from his first four games.

And despite going down to 10 men when Dylan Bahamboula was shown a straight red card after 69 minutes, the visitors would have taken all three points home had it not been for Mickey Demetriou’s stunning 89th-minute equaliser.

Newport led 1-0 through Ryan Haynes’ 14th-minute strike and League Two top scorer Dom Telford restored their lead five minutes before the break after Davis Keillor-Dunn had levelled for the visitors.

Substitute Mike Fondop headed home a second equaliser four minutes into the second half and he put Oldham 3-2 up after 82 minutes, despite Bahamboula earlier seeing red for a wild lunge on Matty Dolan.

Demetriou’s long-range rocket rescued a point for the Exiles but Sheridan was happy with the attitude shown by his players.

“There were a lot of good things and a lot of bad things but we showed a lot of spirit and I’m just glad we got something out of the game,” said the Oldham boss.

“I’ve only been in for two-and-a-half weeks but you can see the willingness to try to get something.

“We’ve scored some cracking goals and I’m a bit frustrated by the sending off. It came in our best spell of the game and it’s something he’s got to learn from.

“But we’ve got eight points from four games, so for a team that was bottom of the league it’s a great comeback.

“We’ve just got to continue this form. If we get two points each game then we’re going to be safe.

“There’s a long way to go and it’s very tight but I think we’re putting up a good fight,” Sheridan added.

“I think the fans appreciate that and the players appreciate the fans’ support. We’ve just got to stick together and get through it.”

Newport manager James Rowberry was disappointed with his team’s display.

“We just didn’t defend well enough. That’s the bottom line after conceding three goals at home,” he said.

“We have got to do better and will do better by putting that right in the coming week.

“We’ve got to stop crosses better, we’ve got to deal with balls into the box better and we’ve got to make sure that our clearances are spot-on because teams will capitalise on that.

“We need to be better at key moments of the game and this is the most frustrated that I have been.”