Shaun Maloney explains decision to leave out Wigan Athletic star man Thelo Aasgaard

The 22-year-old playmaker has been far and away Latics' most dangerous attacking option so far this season.

Not only do his seven goals make him Latics' top scorer, he's already only two behind his career-best tally of the nine he bagged last term.

However, with the Norway Under-21 international having been the only Latics man to be called up during the last international break, boss Maloney has been trying to factor in a rest to avoid him burning out.

As a result, the Latics side that took to the field against the Os boasted only three goals this term, and it showed as they barely laid a glove on the Londoners.

Aasgaard did appear for the second half, but was unable to turn the game back in Latics' favour.

He fired his only shooting chance inches wide of the post in the dying stages, but it was a frustrating afternoon all round for player, manager and team in appalling weather conditions.

However, Maloney denied the strong winds and forecasted rain had been a factor in his team selection.

"No, no, the weather wasn't a factor," the Latics boss said. "I made the decision to play him at Huddersfield and, watching the game back, maybe it wasn't the right decision.

"Prior to that, I think he'd played six games in 17 days, including an extra-time in there, and the time he spent travelling to Norway and Finland.

"It just felt like at some point I would have to try to play without him, and it had nothing to do with the conditions on the day. We had to give him a break because of the amount of football he's played."

Aasgaard and Callum McManaman were sent on for the second half, with Latics a goal down after Jayden Sweeney had opened the scoring four minutes before the break.

Maloney again used all five substitutions, with Jonny Smith having replaced the injured Dion Rankine just after the half-hour, and Maleace Asamoah and Paul Dummett the last rolls of the dice in the final third.

However, none of the new-boys managed to improve on the players they replaced, and former Latics loan forward Charlie Kelman should have killed the game before Diallang Jaiyesimi took advantage of a defensive mix-up with seconds left.

Leaving Maloney with plenty of food for thought in the aftermath.

"It's the first time in a while I've actually felt my attacking substitutions didn't have any sort of positive impact on the game,” added Maloney. "And in the first half, the goal came from not matching a run from an opponent in our area.

"Our attackers know - and they have to understand - that I give them a lot of freedom in the attacking third. But the least I ask for is 100 per cent without the ball. When they don't, I'll just play the next guy.”