Forward tipped to make increased Wigan Athletic impact

That's the view of manager Shaun Maloney, who watched Smith rescue a fully deserved point for Latics at Barnsley on New Year's Day, with a ridiculous 25-yard strike that flew into the top corner.

"You can see Jonny is slowly but surely starting to grow his way into the team," assessed Maloney. "When he cuts in off the right wing onto his left foot, he's just got that shot into the far corner in his locker.

"I'm really happy for him, and we've got such a good attacking threat now down both flanks.

"Any team that leaves a defender one-v-one against us will know we pose a threat. And we're going to need every one of them during the second half of the season."

Smith was only on the pitch for the last 15 minutes, but did enough to turn the game on its head.

He could and should have scored another goal, only for his viciously inswinging right-wing corner fly into the opposite top corner of the net - only to be disallowed for a non-existent foul on the goalkeeper.

To his credit, Maloney didn't want to make a big deal of the incident in the aftermath.

"At the time, when the ball went in, I didn't see any contact," he said. "But in fairness to the referee, I watched it again and there is a very minimal contact on the goalkeeper's shirt.

"I think one of the things people really like about League One, and the Championship, is that decisions are still being made on the field.

"And there's no point complaining about it afterwards.

"I've had this referee before, he's a good referee, and if he's made that decision, then fine, no problem."

Maloney is spoilt for choice in wide attacking areas with Martial Godo also playing the full 90 at Oakwell after a month on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

"Martial is a big, big plus, he wasn't supposed to do the full 90 but felt good out there,” added the Latics boss.