Callum Lang says carnage of last year can work in Wigan Athletic's favour moving forward

Latics endured a car-crash campaign on and off the field, and will start the rebuild under new owner Mike Danson back in League One.

It's a division Latics have won three times in the last eight years - under Gary Caldwell, Paul Cook and Leam Richardson.

Shaun Maloney, however, will not have as big a budget as his predecessors, and Latics will have at least eight points to make up on the field due to points deductions.

All that said, Lang is champing at the bit to get cracking - and he is using last term as motivation for what lies ahead.

"In football, every single player will have those seasons, where it doesn't happen for you," he said. "And last season was mine.

"It's up to me now to push on, put that behind me, and try to make it right.

"That's football, and sometimes you need to go through times like that to really appreciate the good times when they come along.

"On a personal note, I'm working as hard as I can to make sure I'm the best player I can be when the season starts.

"People are sometimes too quick to write you off when times are bad - but that can also be a good thing.

"Because the onus is on me to prove myself all over again.

"I'm never comfortable, I always want to keep improving as a player.

"I know the levels I know I can reach, and I can’t wait to get back to that, and show people again what I can do."

At the age of 24, Lang is also relishing the opportunity of being a senior figure in a much-changed squad.

"I wouldn't even say that's a new thing for this season,” he added.

"As I've progressed as a player, I feel I've already started to grow into that role of a senior player.

"I went out on my loans early in my career, which helped my development, and held me in good stead for what followed.

"I've felt like a senior player for some time now, I'm very comfortable in that, and really enjoying my role here.”