Shaun Maloney lifts lid on Wigan Athletic's failure to bring in a No.9 on transfer deadline day - and why he won't be looking at the free agent market

But the Latics boss insists he won't be exploring the free agent market despite Dale Taylor being the last senior striker left standing.

Maloney lost the services of two No.9s last month, with Joe Hugill being recalled from his loan spell by Manchester United, and Josh Stones joining York City for a 'significant six-figure sum'.

Will Goodwin arrived from Oxford United on loan for the rest of the campaign, but he sustained a quad injury in training last week and will be sidelined until April.

That leaves Taylor as the only recognised frontman available to Maloney, who is hoping winger Maleace Asamoah can act as cover as and when needed.

However, Asamoah himself picked up a muscle injury last week that, although not thought to be serious, underlined the precarious situation up top.

Now Maloney has lifted the lid on the deadline-day drama that saw him thwarted in his attempts to bring in reinforcements.

"There was scope to do that, and there was a bit of movement towards the end of the window, on that last day, in that position," Maloney told Wigan Today.

"We did try with a couple, for this exact reason...there were a couple we got close with.

"Once the decision was made to allow (Josh) Stones to go to York, I think we were always aware of what might happen in that position.

"I do like having two '9s', and Maleace can play in that position too, he did that at Waterford (earlier in his career). But we did try on that day to get another '9' in...it just proved impossible.

"I think when Thelo (Aasgaard) left, it meant we could try to accelerate a few of the things we'd planned on coming back to in the summer. Unfortunately, some things just don't come off."

Maloney had previously claimed he was content to go into the second half of the season with two No.9s - Taylor and Goodwin.

"We would have liked another option, another profile," he explained. "Look, we have a budget and we have to stick to that, but the profile we were looking for was quite a special one.

"I really like Dale and Will, and what they offer, so a third '9' would have to have been almost ready for the moment that unfortunately has now arrived.

"It took two weeks for one of them to get injured...it might never have arrived. But in fairness to the ownership, the budget would have been there to do that third '9'. We just couldn't get it over the line before the deadline."

Maloney also closed the door on the possibility of Latics bringing in a short-term from the free agent market.

"It's not something we will be looking at," he said. "The budget was there on the last day of the window, but now we have to trust Maleace in that position.

"And we also have to make decisions taking next season into account, because any overspending we do now would come out of next year's budget.

"There's a lot of hard work going on - and that has gone on over the last eight months - to get us to a place next season where it will be hopefully a lot more stable. But I'm quite happy to go with Dale and Maleace."