John Sheridan is keeping his players' eyes on the ball as he attempts to steer Athletic to a top-ten finish.

The side travel to Northampton tomorrow looking to end the season on a high and build on last week's win over Leyton Orient.

And Sheridan is drawing on his own experiences as a player to keep his squad focused over the last three games of the campaign.

"I have always said no matter what I'm doing, I want to win," he told Latics World.

"When I played I always wanted to win even the little things like head tennis and five-a-side in training.

"I want my players to have that mentality -- I've made it clear they should want to play every game and finish as high as possible.

"We showed that attitude on Saturday and hopefully we will show it again at Northampton this weekend.

"Both teams are in the middle of the table and there's not much to play for, but we will be going there wanting to win the game, it's as simple as that.

"Northampton have done quite well this season and Stuart Gray will be happy with them. 

"They've had one or two decent results and were in with a shout of the play-offs not so long ago.

"I'm sure it will be difficult game, but they've got a decent pitch there -- it's a nice little ground.

"The good thing is I can experiment again; Matt Wolfenden and Deane Smalley did very well up front for me last week.

"It's up to those coming back in to try and force me to play them from the start."