Gav's buzzing after bitter taste of Orient

Gavin Massey admits he's having to pinch himself to come to terms with his dream start to his Wigan Athletic adventure.
Gavin MasseyGavin Massey
Gavin Massey

Just five months ago, the world came crashing down for Massey and his Leyton Orient colleagues when they were relegated from the Football League.

But after a summer switch to Wigan, and a flying start to the League One campaign, Massey has realistic sights on being a Championship player next season!

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“You just look at the quality we have here – Powelly, Griggy, Crackers, Ivan Toney,” it’s just incredible,” Massey told the Wigan Post.

“This is the reason I came to the club.

“When I heard the gaffer was interested, and I saw the calibre of player that was here and the squad he was putting together.

“I couldn’t wait to sign...it was an absolute no-brainer.

“It was a huge step up for me to come here and work with such quality, and hopefully it’s going to bring my game on as well.

“I’ve obviously got confidence on my ability, but see things in training from other players and you can’t help but learn from that.

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“I feel I’ve had a good start to the season, I’ve scored a few goals, and I’m contributing.

“But I want more goals, and I want to create more for my team-mates.”

Massey has already contributed three goals to Wigan’s tally of 20 from just 11 games, which have returned eight wins and a draw.

That puts Latics in second place in League One, on the coat-tails of leaders Shrewsbury, ahead of this weekend’s trip to Scunthorpe.

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And while Massey and his pals have looked good enough to repeat the League One title win of two years ago on several occasions, they’ve also shown they have the stomach for the fight when the going hasn’t quite been so good.

“I think we’ve got a great mix within the team,” the 25-year-old acknowledged.

“We’ve got great attacking players, and also great defensive players to keep it tight.

“It’s nice to be able to dominate teams and weigh in with a few goals.

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“But when you get teams like Northampton and Plymouth coming to frustrate us, when it looks like there’s nothing in the game, sometimes it’s nice to dig in and get the three points.

“Those 1-0s are just as important as the 3-0s and 4-1s at the end of the season.

“We just need to keep on top of ourselves now and keep pushing, and demanding more from each other.”

The Shrews are one of only two teams to lower Wigan’s colours in the league so far, along with Peterborough.

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Both defeats were met by scenes of mass euphoria among the home fans, and Massey admits that will act as motivation for the rest of the campaign.

“When we go to these sort of teams, they want to take us on,” he added.

“It’s a real benchmark for teams to try and get a result from us.

“But we’ve got to be ready for that and hopefully we’ve learned from those experiences.”