SEAN Long believes Oldham’s league opener against York at Boundary Park is the perfect start for his men, writes Kasey Smith.

Roughyeds are set to launch their league campaign a month earlier than last year, kicking off on February 16 with two back-to-back home games, following the release of the fixtures on Tuesday evening.

Batley will follow the York game, before Oldham travel to Barrow for their first away trip on March 9.

“You couldn’t ask for a better fixture at home against York who were flying last year,” said the Roughyeds boss.

“I like to play the good teams first because everybody is up for it at the start and after about five or six games you find out where you are.

“There are some really good teams in the Championship, and there’s some which have recruited really well, so we are not taking anything for granted.

“I wanted a tough start because we’ve been in pre-season now for about five weeks. We’re training really hard and we want to get off to a flyer. And we’re really looking forward to it.”

Other standout fixtures include the away match against Toulouse, set for a 6pm kick-off on June 21, and a thrilling Friday night showdown as Oldham travel to Odsal to face Bradford on July 18.

Three of Oldham’s last five fixtures are on the road at Batley, London and Featherstone where the league campaign will conclude on September 7 – a week earlier than everybody else due to the uneven number of teams in the division.

“It’s good we’ve got the tough block at the end,” Long explained. “Hopefully we will be in the play-off mix and by playing those sides it helps keep you battle-hardened going into the knockout rounds.

“Whether you finish first or sixth, it doesn’t matter, anybody can win it.”

n The full fixture list can be found at roughyeds.co.uk