Sam Tickle on being 'thrown in at the deep end' at Wigan Athletic - and why League One has been 'weird'

The 22-year-old goalkeeper only made his first-team debut in the final game of last season, against Rotherham United.

But after being given the No.1 jersey by Shaun Maloney last summer, Tickle played in all 46 matches in League One.

His incredible form saw him named Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year, as well as being called up by England Under-21s for the first time.

And as he takes time to draw breath, Tickle wouldn't have had it any other way.

“I probably made more saves than I wanted to this season," said Academy product Tickle, who had loan spells at Nantwich Town and Warrington Rylands – and a full campaign at Pilkington FC in 2018-19 – before making the breakthrough at Wigan. "But I suppose when you’re going into your debut season you just want to do as much as you can I’ve loved this season, I’ve just been throwing myself about everywhere.

“Towards the end of last season I thought ‘I’ll have a chance here’ next season. At the start of pre-season I knew I had a right good chance of starting – and I’ve not looked back, to be honest.

“I played all the league games and a few cup games – and I made my 50th appearance for the club, which was nice.

“This has been the first season since I was 16 that I’ve really played all the games, it’s been really enjoyable.

“I remember having a chat with my agent when I came back from loan and I was thinking ‘I’m 21, nearly 22 and I’ve not played a full season in the league yet’.

“It was a bit of struggle, but then all of a sudden I got the chance – and that’s been it from there."

Speaking to SportsBoom.com, Tickle says being thrown in ‘at the deep end’ on the opening day at Derby last August was the best thing that could have happened.

“I’ve loved it, I remember playing at Derby on the first day of the season,” he added. "You walk out in front of 30,000 people and you think to yourself ‘this is where I want to be’.

“It’s weird League One, you can go from playing in front of 30,000 people at Pride Park to playing at Fleetwood (Town) in midweek, in front of 5,000. But I’ve always wanted to play in front of big crowds.

“The gaffer has shown me great backing, I do owe him a lot. He sort of just threw me in at the deep end, which I think was the best way to do it."

Tickle was one of several club-produced players – alongside the likes of Charlie Hughes, Thelo Aasgaard, Scott Smith, Baa Adeeko and Callum McManaman – who contributed a staggering 42 per cent of all first-team minutes in 2023-24.