Round tributes Oldham

League One side Oldham Athletic were praised by Everton assistant manager Steve Round after their 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park last night.

Before the FA Cup fifth round replay last night Oldham were the lowest ranked team remaining in the competition.

Despite sitting just one spot above the relegation zone in the third tier of English football, Oldham have enjoyed a cup run beating Kidderminster, Doncaster Rovers, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool before drawing with Everton after a late dramatic stoppage time equaliser.

But fortunately for Everton, the fairytale was coming to an end. Goals from Mirallas, Baines and Osman put us into a comfortable 3-0 lead before Smith gave the travelling fans something to cheer.

'I thought Oldham put a right shift in and pushed us all the way. They were a credit to the manager and to themselves. I thought they really acquitted themselves right and made it very tough. Round told The BBC.

He continued: 'Having said that, I think we matched them for the attitude and then your quality comes through at the end. You saw that with one or two of the goals that we scored and unfortunately we missed a couple of chances to maybe make it a bit more clear-cut.'

Everton will now face Wigan in the Quarter-Finals, one step closer to a Wembley return.

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