Latics guest player column - Jordi Gomez

First of all, I have to say it's good to be back!

I had a great time here in my previous spell, and it’s very nice to return to Wigan Athletic.

Obviously I know Gary (Caldwell) from when I was here before, and he didn’t need to sell the club to me.

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I knew Wigan were interested at the start of summer, and that was very important for me.

I wanted to stay in England, I’ve been here so long, I know the area, so it was a pretty easy decision for me.

And I’m looking forward to the challenge.

In my last season here, we managed to get into the play-offs and we very nearly went back up into the Premier League.

It’s always disappointing when you are so close to your objectives and you come up just short.

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Hopefully this time we can do something, we can have a good season, and we’ll see what happens.

Obviously the club has been down to League One since I left.

But last season was a very good one, and hopefully we can build on that momentum.

There is a very good group of players here, and I always looked for their results while I was away.

Obviously a lot has changed since I was last here.

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We have a new training complex for a start, and it’s much better than the one we had at Christopher Park.

As a player you always want to improve, and a facility like Euxton can only help us do that.

The stadium is the same, of course, but I actually haven’t been back to the DW since my last game there - against QPR in the play-offs two years ago.

It was a close tie over the two legs, we came so close to getting through to the final.

But it wasn’t to be and you have to move on.

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It’s funny that I could make my ‘second’ debut at the DW this weekend...and it’s QPR who are the opposition.

They are one of a few teams who have been relegated from the Premier League and want to get back there.

But we are also one of them, and it will be a good game.

Even though it’s only two years since I left, there’s hardly any of my team-mates still here.

Obviously there’s Mike Pollitt - and Mike is...well, Mike.

There’s also Nick Powell from my last season, and obviously Gary who’s now the manager.

When you get relegated, you have to make major changes.

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The club did that, and in some ways it’s nice to be joining a completely fresh group of players.

But it doesn’t matter if it’s full of players who were here before or a brand new group, as long as it’s a good team.

You need that, because it’s a very good league and a very good season.

You need numbers and also quality - and I think we have both.

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Obviously I’m not quite up to the physical standards of the rest of the squad yet.

I only played one pre-season game because of my situation at Sunderland.

I’m getting better day by day, and I’m hoping to be back to full speed as quickly as possible.

But it was great to be named on the bench at Nottingham Forest.

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Whatever the manager feels he has to do, he will do, and I’m just concentrating on working hard.

It was just nice to get the Wigan shirt back on again.

And obviously it will be better when I’m back on the pitch and hopefully in the starting side.

At the moment I’m taking it game by game, and the team is also taking it game by game.

As for our aims for the season, we won’t talk about them in the press...

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The most important thing is just to train hard every day, and take that into the game on a Saturday or a Tuesday night.

If we can do that, I’m sure we’ll be okay.

As you know, I experienced a little bit of everything during my first spell...

It’s not something that’s just happened with me, and it’s not something that bothers me to be honest.

But there were some really great moments as well.

And at the end, it was a happy ending, to draw a line under my time here.

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The reaction of the fans to me coming back has been absolutely fantastic – I really don’t know why!

I guess it means I did something good for the club in the past, which was appreciated by them.

Of course, I was ‘Player of the Season’ in my last year here, but I can’t focus on that now.

In football, you cannot live in the past.

We’ve had some great moments over the years, but that is all in the past.

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The focus now is on the present, and helping the team to achieve its aims this season.

I just want to continue where I left off at Wigan, and enjoy many more good times here.

I want to be the best professional I can be, work hard in training, and take it into the games.

That’s my only aim.

Jordi Gomez was speaking to Paul Kendrick