Davies has clear view of his goals

Craig Davies believes '˜the beauty' of the Championship allows Wigan Athletic the chance to quickly turn around their Championship campaign.
Craig DaviesCraig Davies
Craig Davies

The euphoria of last season – when Latics clinched the League One title – already seems a long way away for those in and around the DW Stadium.

With over a third of the season gone, Latics are languishing in second-bottom place, with only three wins on the board from 17 matches played.

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Latics were powerless over the weekend to prevent some sides stealing a march on them, ahead of tonight’s televised trip to Huddersfield.

But with the festive period around the corner – and the matches coming thick and fast – Davies feels now represents the ideal opportunity for Latics to make up some ground on their rivals in the bottom half of the table.

“The games keep coming thick and fast, but that’s the beauty of this league,” he told the Evening Post.

“We need to go into games in confident mood, believing we can get a result against anybody – starting with Huddersfield.

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“I’m sure we can do that because we have the players – I don’t see why not.”

Interestingly, and despite results not going their way this season, morale has never taken a battering, according to the former Wales international.

“It’s never been like that really,” he explained. “Everybody has stayed positive, happy, and we’re just going to keep fighting for one another.

“I know most teams will probably say the same thing, that they’ve got a really good team spirit.

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“But we really have here – and that went for under the previous manager as well.

“We were obviously shocked when we went in on the Tuesday and heard the news, but we were all out grafting in the afternoon, trying to stay cheerful, and the mood was positive.

“We were in for most of the recent international break, and the gaffer worked us very hard in the sessions.

“It was tough but it was also very enjoyable, we’ve been working hard but also learning a lot.”

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That international break undoubtedly came at the perfect time for Latics and new boss Warren Joyce, who took advantage of a rare chance to get to know his squad behind closed doors at Euxton.

As a player, Davies would have preferred to get straight back out there to put things right, but he accepts things may have worked out for the best – judging by last weekend’s battling 0-0 draw at Barnsley.

“Sometimes when you get beat badly, it can be all doom and gloom – especially when you’ve not got a game for a couple of weeks,” he acknowledged.

“It’s sometimes good to have a Tuesday night game, to help you get the previous game out of your system.

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“But we’ve stayed positive, we’re sure the results will come, and that goes for everyone at the club.

“We’ve just got to keep digging away.”

Davies made a rare cameo off the bench at Oakwell, being preferred to fellow substitutes Will Grigg and Adam Le Fondre to replace Yanic Wildschut for the last 10 minutes.

Joyce revealed after the game it had been Davies’ physical prowess in both boxes that had been behind the decision, and the man himself admits he’ll try and make use of any advantage to get himself back in favour.

“It was great to be back on the field, back in the side,” he added.

“I just had to battle away, get what I could, and help us get the point which was the main thing.

“The boys did that as a whole I thought, and we showed we’ve got plenty of life still in us.”