JOHN Sheridan said he would review footage before deciding whether or not to appeal Carl Piergianni's late red card.
The Latics captain was sent off in the 88th minute of their 2-0 defeat to Northampton for an elbow on Jon Guthrie when the pair competed for a header.
The incident sparked a brawl between both sets of players, with referee Sam Purkiss consulting his assistants before reducing relegation-threatened Oldham to 10 men, then issuing yellow cards to Northampton duo Sam Hoskins and Ali Koiki, as well as Latics substitute Kyle Jameson.
If the red-card is not appealed, or an appeal is upheld, Latics are expected to be without Piergianni for the next three games, with only four remaining.
"I'll have to see it on the video, " said Sheridan when asked if he would appeal the decision.
"A straight red would be three games, which doesn't help the cause at all.
"I think he's caught him with his elbow but I don't think he has gone with the intention to elbow him.
"He's gone up with momentum and he's competitive. But I'm not happy with how some of their players rushed in. We should have done that last week (at Port Vale for a bad challenge on Davis Keillor-Dunn).
" Sometimes that's just the nature of the game, I've done it myself when I've rushed in and got people sent off. That's football. So they saw an opportunity, and our lads last week sat back and thought 'oh it's not that bad a tackle, leave it'. Theirs are rushing in and they're on top of the referee.
"He's gone up competitively but I think he has caught him."
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