Former Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Derby County and Hull City man opens up on his journey to Wigan Athletic

The 37-year-old has joined the Latics first-team coaching staff, just days after leaving Manchester United, where he'd been a player-coach in the Under-21 ranks.

It means a reunion with Shaun Maloney, a former team-mate at Hull City between 2015-17, and someone he's kept in touch with ever since through their shared football philosophies.

"Me and the manager have always kept in contact since we played alongside each other, always speaking about different things...football, tactics among them," said.

"I got a phone call a couple of weeks ago, coinciding with me leaving my role at Manchester United, so it's worked out well from a permanent point of view.

"One of the main reasons we kept in touch was we were so similar in terms of ideas on football and identity of playing, and I'm excited about what we can achieve here." Huddlestone, who also played for Tottenham Hotspur, Derby County and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as well as winning four England caps.

Huddlestone's departure from United signalled the end of his playing career which spanned two decades.

But his switch to coaching has been a progressive one rather than all of a sudden.

"When you get into your 30s as a player, I think you almost take that initiative anyway," he said. "With younger players coming through, you're probably trying to coach them during sessions and on the pitch without having that title as a coach or player-coach.

"I probably moved towards that during my time at Derby and Hull, and it's just been brilliant to see the kind of preparation that goes into every session, the analysis of sessions and games, and then looking at the opposition. It's something I'm looking forward to getting my teeth into this year.

"When you start to see players improving over a period of days and weeks, it gives you a great deal of satisfaction.

"My role over the last couple of years has probably been more in terms of development but, stepping up into the first-team set-up, it will be more results-based from now on., as well as developing the team both individually and collectively."

He also believes the Latics squad being so young will prove advantageous as he tries to get his ideas across.

"Young players have got their whole careers ahead of them, and are probably more likely to take on board things than those at the other ends of their journey," Huddlestone added.

"It's just about how you deliver the message and making sure all the players are buying into what you're trying to do.

“The last two years have been really educational from a coaching standpoint. When you're a player, you kind of take a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff for granted.

"But seeing it from both sides over the last couple of years has given me a better insight into the coaching world, and has given me the ambition that this is what I want to do long term."