Fatigue not a factor - Wigan Athletic chief

Saturday's visit of Plymouth will be followed by a midweek trip to Portsmouth before the season finale at Shrewsbury next weekend.

That'll take the total number of fixtures in all competitions to a jaw-dropping 61.

It's only one fewer than the club-record 62 played in 2013-14, when Latics reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup as well as the Championship play-offs, having taken part in the group stage of the Europa League and the Community Shield.

Since the turn of the year, Latics' had to fit 30 games into a 116-day period which has stretched the squad physically as well as mentally further than any other EFL side.

Richardson, though, says rather than staggering over the line, his players are raring to go for the final push.

"People have spoken about fatigue," he said. "But everyone can see we finished the stronger at Ipswich in midweek, and last weekend against Cambridge.

"We've got three healthy challenges ahead, and most of the preparation will be recovery and regeneration.

"It's also about the emotional attachment that goes around, and trying to get away from that if we can.

"We're just focused on the next performance, and we've got to be a lot better than we were at Ipswich.

"But in terms of work ethic and honesty, it's more of the same."

Richardson revealed the recovery effort following the midweek draw at Ipswich was boosted by chief executive Mal Brannigan and chairman Talal Al Hammad.

"We stayed over in Ipswich on Tuesday night to try to negate the impact of the long trip," said the Latics boss.

"The journey back through the night can impact the following day, so it's about trying to plan ahead and ease any disruption.

"We've had to twist the arm of the chief exec and the chairman, in terms of the finance involved.

"But if you do things like this right, normally the stuff out on the field looks after itself.

"We trained down in Ipswich on the Wednesday morning before coming home, and it's helped us in terms of preparing for the weekend."

A win against Plymouth on Saturday would confirm promotion with two games to spare.

That, coupled with Rotherham failing to win, would see Latics secure a hat-trick of third-tier titles in the space of six seasons.

Having drawn two and lost one of their last three games, Richardson is determined to finish in style.

"I think you can tell with the subs we're making, they're always attacking subs, trying to push on rather than protect what we have," he said.

"We're trying to get as many goals on the pitch as we can, and we're trying to win as many games as we can.

"At the same time, every point at this stage of the season is gold dust, and you've got to respect every single one because that could be the crucial one."