Latics Defender Neal Eardley is a very happy person after signing his first ever professional contract. He said, "I'm delighted to be signing a professional contract at such a young age. Hopefully this will make me a better player and help me on to bigger things in my career. It's nice to have my named mentioned with clubs like Liverpool but I'm not going to let that affect my game. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing at Oldham. It's good to have players like Andy Liddell and Will Haining around, and I've got lots of support from my family. I want to keep my head down and continue to work hard. Both the gaffer and Tommy Wright have lots of experience and working with them can only make me a better player. I'm really enjoying it."John Sheridan was also quick to sing Eardley's praises when he said, "Neal's definitely got the ability to play at a higher level and he fully deserves his contract. We're trying to make him into a better player, and he's now got to carry on learning. He's got the ability but he has to work hard. Like any young kid, Neal can sometimes show immaturity in his game, and perhaps does things that he'd usually get away with in the youth side but he can't get away with them in the first team. That happens to all players at all levels though. If Neal keeps working hard he's got the potential to play at a higher standard."