Blackpool boss on what Ryan Lowe needs to do to get Wigan Athletic 'back to where it was'.

That's the view of Steve Bruce, who will once again be locking horns with his former club next season as his Blackpool side also aim to return to the Championship.

Bruce saw first hand the effects Lowe has had at Wigan on the penultimate weekend of the campaign, when Latics old-boy Lee Evans converted a late penalty to give Blackpool a 1-1 draw at the Brick Community Stadium, after Jon Mellish had put the home side ahead.

And he's backing the Liverpudlian to build on his fine work at Bury, Plymouth Argyle and Preston North End to steady the Latics ship after a few years of upheaval.

"I'm sure Ryan will have his thoughts on how the future will look," said Bruce. "And I'm sure he'll want to put his own team together to try to get the club back to where it was.

"They've gone very young in the last couple of years haven't they, they've got a lot of good young players coming through. But you've got to find that right balance...here's me trying to tell Ryan how to do it! Anyone can see he's done very, very well as a manager so far.

"Looking from the outside, when you go young, you're always going to get that inconsistency, but these lads have to learn their trade and they'll be better for it."

Bruce has always spoken fondly of his two spells as Latics manager, the second of which saw them flirt with European qualification in 2008/09, before key men Wilson Palacios and Emile Heskey were sold midway through the campaign and they finished 11th.

That was also the last season in charge for Bruce, who moved to Sunderland that summer, but who says he has never managed a team as good as the one he left.

"I've wonderful memories of my time at Wigan," he said. "The first time only lasted six weeks, but when I came back, I had arguably the best team I've ever had the pleasure of managing.

"I had some really, really good times here with a really, really top team...and I thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

"I think we got 63 points in my last calendar year...we had a proper team that could go to places like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and take them on...we were that good.

"You roll off the players...(Antonio) Valencia, (Wilson) Palacios, (Lee) Cattermole, (Emile) Heskey, (Hugo) Rodallega, (Charles) N'Zogbia, (Mario) Melchiot, (Chris) Kirkland, (Paul) Scharner, wow...big, physical, powerful players who could play as well.

"Sadly it didn't last very long, because the big boys came and bought them all! But Wigan as a club...an absolutely fantastic club, who had a fantastic owner...who I really thought the world of."

Bruce has stated many times that Dave Whelan was the best chairman he's ever worked under, and he hopes current incumbent Mike Danson well as he tries to follow in very big footsteps.

"I genuinely wish the new owner well," added the 64-year-old. "Mr Whelan always wanted a Premier League club, with a Premier League stadium, with a Premier League team.

"I know Brenda (Spencer) has just come back, she was wonderful, as was John Benson, God rest his soul...along with the chairman, who was always as straight as a die with me.

"A spade was a spade with Dave Whelan, but you can see his legacy to this day with the wonderful stadium...he was a fantastic custodian of this great football club.

"He did everything he could to give this town a Premier League club to be proud of, and he backed it financially to make it happen.

"Even the hotel where we had our pre-match meal before the game was Mr Whelan's...that's all part of his legacy to this town. Of course, the biggest moment was when they won the FA Cup, and if anybody deserved something like that, it was him."

Like Whelan, Blackpool owner Simon Sadler is also a lifelong fan of his club.

“They’ve got very similar traits - they both support their clubs and want them to do well,” Bruce added. “Simon is a big fan, just as Dave is one of Wigan. They’re very common in the way they are, they both want their clubs to do well. In that respect, I’ve been very lucky to have two decent owners.”