Caldwell: Results will turn in our favour

Latics entertain the high-flying Seagulls at the DW Stadium, looking to extend their own unbeaten sequence to five matches after a recent resurgence.

Caldwell still feels Latics aren’t picking up enough points to justify the quality in the camp, and he says Brighton would be unwise to read too much into the league standings in the lead-up to tomorrow’s game.

“We’re not struggling, we’re playing well,” he told the Evening Post. “We understand the results aren’t good enough, and we understand that’s what we’ll be judged on.

“But we have to stick to what we believe in, and know that this will turn. We will start progressing up this league, and fairly quickly.

“The fans have to stick with us, because there’s a team in front of them that are doing everything for this football club and showing a real desire to play for Wigan Athletic.

“The fans have to get behind them on Saturday, especially against a team like Brighton, to help us over the line and give us that belief to go and get a win.”

Latics required a stoppage-time equaliser from Shaun MacDonald to salvage a point from their trip to Leeds.

But Caldwell feels a repeat of the overall performance – with one or two positive tweaks – will allow them to challenge Chris Hughton’s Albion.

“I’m sure it’s frustrating for the fans at the moment, the same as it is for me and it is for the players,” the Latics chief added.

“You can see the players are giving it everything, they’re trying to do everything we ask of them. They’re doing a lot of things really well, we just need a little bit more in the final third.

“We need a little bit more creativity, more bodies higher up the pitch at the right time, and more understanding of when we can get closer to Will (Grigg), and work those combinations that are going to get us opportunities.

“The final bit, when we get those opportunities, is obviously putting it in the net.

“I told the boys at half-time at Leeds, that we have to rip the net out, we have to put the ball in the net. That comes from desire and real belief – and that’s where the goal came from.”