Manager Micky Mellon admitted it was a frustrating afternoon as Oldham Athletic were held to a goalless draw at Dagenham and Redbridge.

Latics offered little in the first half but had more chances in the second and could have clinched it in stoppage time but substitute Mike Fondop was denied from close range, from a Dan Gardner corner.

It was a golden opportunity to secure what would have been a valuable win to put them back in the top seven by the narrowest of margins above Halifax, after their home game with Ebbsfleet was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

But with just six games remaining to secure a top seven spot, Mellon called for persistence.

"At this time of the year it's about battling and scrapping and picking up points. It can be frustrating and I can see the fans were frustrated at the end. We're all frustrated but we've got to stick together and we've got to keep going.

"It's a difficult time of the season. We all want to play brilliantly all the time, we've just got to keep going," said the Latics boss, who was disappointed not to secure a last gasp win with Fondop's chance.

"I don't want to be critical of anybody but you've got to take them. I think we've got to take that," he added.

"That's a massive opportunity at any stage of the season or at any stage in any game. You've got to take that, but we didn't. We weren't good enough to take it in that moment.

"We could have done a lot better all over the pitch, we know that. But at the end of the day you take what you get. We're disappointed with how we played but it's another point on the board and you've just got to keep going, as frustrating as it is, and trust me we're frustrated as well.

"Clean sheet and another point on the board, they're probably the positives.

"It's a difficult time of the season because everyone's scrapping for different reasons. But we know that we can play much, much better than that, and we acknowledge that.

"We've just got to keep on."

Latics were forced into a number of squad changes due to a flu bug in the camp, although there was only one alteration from the starting XI against now champions Chesterfield, with Ethan Walker replacing Josh Lundstram, who was absent from the 16.

"There's a lot of illness, we've got a lot of flu in the team, some haven't even travelled with us so some boys came in today to try to keep things moving forward for us," said Mellon, who brought Hallam Hope off the bench for his first league appearance this calendar year.

"We'll have a look at that for next week and hopefully don't spread it any more in the camp."