By Mark Mitchener BBC Sport at Boundary Park

Oldham 1-2 Bournemouth O'Driscoll pleased with recovery

An alarming downward slide has left the Latics without a win in eight league outings - a run which also included a 6-0 League Cup hammering by Tottenham.

Despite going ahead with a second-minute penalty, Talbot's side slipped to a fourth defeat in five games were booed off by their own fans at full time.

"This was another bad result for us, and people were obviously unhappy. But I'll do all I can to improve the situation," the former Rushden boss pledged.

Already lacking Rodney Jack, John Eyre and Mark Bonner through injury, Talbot's squad to face the in-form Cherries was also stretched by suspension.

Jamaican forward Jermaine Johnson was serving a ban for his midweek sending-off against Bristol City - and the squad may need reinforcements if Oldham are to head off a relegation scrap.

We didn't look the same team in the second half - and defended poorly for both goals Brian Talbot

"We got off to a perfect start with the penalty, and started passing the ball and dominating the match," Talbot said.

"But we didn't look the same team in the second half - we didn't create any chances, didn't pass the ball quickly enough and defended terribly.

"Whatever you might say about tactics or selection, we defended poorly for both goals.

"The first should have been cleared by the goalkeeper, and for the second, Dean Holden was calling for offside when the player's not offside.

"If you're going to make decisions like that, you are going to lose football matches.

"They changed their system after 25 minutes and went to three at the back - we coped with it for 20 minutes but they got some momentum going.

"I didn't think they were going to score until we gave them the goal, but it lifted them."

Talbot also defended his decision to substitute veteran midfielder David Eyres with 20 minutes left and the score at 1-1.

David Eyres is a crowd favourite here Oldham boss Brian Talbot

As Eyres - at 40, the oldest outfield player in the League - trudged off, the move was greeted with a chorus of boos from some sections of the crowd.

Talbot explained: "David's played so many games - plus, we wanted to match them up [with a 3-5-2 formation] as they were on top and we had to do something about it to get back in the game.

"I made a change, and they scored a second goal. Obviously David is a crowd favourite here, but they were getting in behind us on both sides and I had to stop their wide players getting the ball.

"But I've got to persevere with the players I've got - if not we've got to bring one or two in, it's as easy as that."