'Imperative' Wigan Athletic act now, admits Leam Richardson

Latics’ weekend win at Sunderland – their first in 14 matches – wasn’t enough to move them off the foot of League One.

The already-threadbare squad has been stretched to breaking point for much of the campaign, leaving the management hanging on for January – and the opportunity to bring in much-needed bodies, assuming the takeover goes through in the meantime.

”It’s imperative – it’s so important in terms of the rest of the season,” Richardson said.

“It’s been a tough, tough year for everybody around the world – and for Wigan Athletic more than most.

“We’ll be in January soon, the takeover stuff is carrying on, and there’s going to be some massive decisions to be made – on and off the pitch.

“We’ve obviously only got a skeleton staff at the moment, with a very young playing squad.

“Our whole aim is to keep in touch with the rest of the league in the meantime, and then hopefully add the numbers we know we need in the squad.

“That would allow us to give some of the younger lads a break, and not have to carry on the fight, and hopefully see us push up the league.

“January is clearly a massive part of that, and we need to be ready for that.

“Fingers crossed in the new year we’ll have a few new faces, fans back in the ground, and hopefully that will allow us to take a massive step forward – to a future we’ve not always known was guaranteed.”

The situation is further muddied by Will Keane, Dan Gardner and Viv Solomon-Otabor only being under contract until next month.

In addition,the loan deals for Curtis Tilt (Rotherham), Tom James (Hibernian), Darnell Johnson (Leicester) and Matty Palmer (Swindon) all have less than a month to run.

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