A FRUITFUL start to Autumn has landed John Sheridan the M.E.N. Sport/BBC Radio Manchester Sports Personality of the Month award for September.

But the Oldham Athletic boss is a bit non-plussed by the whole affair. In that strange way that managers have, Sheridan can see little difference between September - one defeat in seven league games - and August, when his team clocked up one win in six league games and were knocked out of the Carling Cup.

To an outsider, that would appear to be a revival in fortune on a par with Lazarus. To a level-headed Stretford lad like Sheridan, it was just a case of a slight change in fortune and the maintenance of self-belief in his dressing room.

"In the first four games we were beaten 1-0 three times and won 1-0 in the other, and played well in all of them," said Sheridan, whose team could break into the play-off positions if they win at Doncaster tomorrow.

"There was never a suggestion that heads might drop. I have a good dressing room, and the players stayed positive even though they were as disappointed as I was.

"The old maxim of finding out more about your players in defeat held good at that time. You could see the lads were not at all happy about getting beaten, and I was telling them to stay positive.

"The only thing we lacked in those games was someone to put the ball in the net, because we were making chances. We lost three of the first four games but still had the most crosses and corners of anyone in the division."

The answer to that problem has been big striker Chris Porter, who suffered a recurrence of a long-term knee problem at the start of the season, but has roared back with five goals in seven games.

Potential

Sheridan said on taking the reins in the summer that, of all the top managers he has played under, Ron Atkinson was perhaps the one who would be his biggest influence, as he was the type who could extract the most from any squad.

In the cash-starved realm of League One, that is a valuable asset, and perhaps Porter's blossoming form is the best example of the fact that Sheridan has his team playing close to their full potential.

Porter netted nine times in 35 games last season, but now the 22-year-old is attracting interested glances from clubs higher up the league ladder.

During those August days when Latics were struggling for goals and wallowing in the lower reaches, their fans might have been forgiven for thinking `here we go again' because Sheridan's only previous managerial experience came in 2003 when he took over on a caretaker basis when Iain Dowie left, won two of 12 matches and lost out to Brian Talbot after applying for the job.

The difference this time is that he has had the summer to prepare - signing four players and another four on loan, shaping his own management staff and introducing his own ideas.

Sheridan admits that he abandoned his original plan to play 4-3-1-2 after a chat with Wigan boss Paul Jewell during a summer coaching seminar.

"We tried it in the first couple of games and, though we played some good football attacking-wise, we weren't quite right," said Sheridan. "Then I remembered that little bit of advice Paul had given me over the summer, and how he had done well in this division with 4-4-2.

"Players understand 4-4-2, and we have created a lot more chances and look happier."

The players looked happier still when they went to league leaders and title favourites Nottingham Forest and won 2-0, a result that bolstered the Latics' returning confidence greatly and made the rest of the division sit up and take notice.

It was also a win that helped clinch the monthly award for Sheridan, ahead of Manchester United's tearaway Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester City comeback boy Micah Richards, Bolton veteran Gary Speed and Salford's British light-middleweight champ Jamie Moore, who won one of the best fights in the country's pugilistic history last week.

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