Maloney admits 'struggle' to come to terms with Wigan Athletic's play-off denial

Latics' weekend victory over Leyton Orient saw them take another huge step towards League One survival, with a 13-point buffer now between them and the bottom four.

However, had they not been deducted eight points last summer for issues relating to the previous ownership, their attention would be on the other end of the table.

Indeed, Maloney's men have won only six fewer points on the field than sixth-placed Stevenage which, with nine matches still to go, would have made for an exciting run-in.

"It's been such a crazy season," acknowledged the Latics boss. "Right now, I should be sitting here and talking about how we can hunt down Stevenage and Oxford, and break into the play-offs.

"But in reality, it just feels like a constant fight to get as far away from the bottom four as possible...when the level of the team is better than that.

"Even with all the young players we're using, we should be thinking about how we can get into that play-off picture.

"And I think that's something I've struggled with this season…

"Sometimes I've got it right and sometimes I've got it wrong...and it's just made for such a unique season, and consistency has proved to be an inevitable consequence of that.

"It's also possibly where we are as a football club...we've got kids who are in their first full seasons in the first team...and I can understand why sometimes it's not as easy as just being more consistent."

Latics' latest victory over Orient saw them take full advantage of the visitors being reduced to 10 men just before half-time.

Even so, Latics had to bide their time before |Jason Ker's 73rd-minute breakthrough, which came after Maloney had sent on pretty much every single attacking option off the bench to tip the balance.

"We've seen with some of the substitutions I've made during the season...sometimes it's worked and sometimes it hasn't," he reflected.

"I look at Blackpool away, when I did the same, and we went all out, it didn't work...we got back into the game and then we had to figure out how to play with so many attacking players on the field.

"This time it worked, but I don't ever want to die wondering...when you get the feeling, just attack, and when you do score, we'll worry about how to defend when it happens.

"We had two wingers in the back four...I knew at that stage of the game we'd have the ball a lot. But when you manage to score, the energy completely changes.

"You wish it didn't, but it does...and you have to ask wingers to defend, and it becomes a little less comfortable.

"But that's the risk I guess you take, and I would rather do that than remain structured and stable, and come away with a 0-0."