Talking football: Perfect weekend for Wigan Athletic to show they're not out of it yet

The clocks have gone forward, the sun's starting to come out...which can only mean one thing.

Wigan Athletic are gearing up for their latest 'Great Escape'!

It's fair to say Saturday's visit of Queens Park Rangers fell into the 'must win' category.

And thanks to Max Power's early penalty, that's exactly what the players deserved.

It was nice to see Power break his duck in the Championship, in his 82nd appearance, with such an emphatic finish.

He, as much as anyone, has embraced the new era under Shaun Maloney, and has been playing some of the best football he's produced during his two spells hereSpeaking of

Maloney, how wonderful was it to see him clenching his fists and celebrating with the supporters at the final whistle?

There can't be many managers who've experienced a more eventful first couple of months in a job than he has.

But the way he - and his players, to a man - has conducted himself in the most difficult of circumstances has been admirable.

Annoyingly, the three points only takes Latics back to where they were prior to the points deduction imposed for a repeated failure to pay the wages in time.

But it will have also sent out a strong message to the other sides in the relegation dogfight - Latics will not give up the ghost without a fight.

Maloney was adamant in his post-match media that there is enough belief in the camp that they can retain their Championship status.

And there are more than enough winnable games in the last seven matches to keep the faith.

Friday's trip to Sheffield United is by far the most daunting looking fixture of the run-in.

After that, Latics have Swansea (h), Blackpool (a), Stoke (a), Millwall (h), Reading (a), before closing their campaign at the DW against another side in trouble, Rotherham.

Latics currently have 34 points from their 39 matches played.

A dozen more points would take them up to a point-a-game total of 46, which is usually all right as far as survival is concerned.

In fact, over the last 20 years, the average number of points needed to stay up has been 44.85.

And there's another huge reason for optimism.

While many of the other sides at the bottom are on a negative spiral, the arrival of Maloney has ensured a hugely positive mood in and around the DW.

We only need to look back on the Scot's playing days here to know what can be achieved when everyone is pulling in the same direction - on and off the field.

Let's hope it's a happy Easter for all of us - and get some fuel into that 'Believe' bus for the home straight!

How apt ahead of Easter weekend to see Callum McManaman working towards a remarkable comeback on the field.

Latics' FA Cup final hero was a surprise inclusion in the Under-21s' fixture at Charlton, coming off the bench as a trialist.

It's fair to say McManaman's career didn't take off the way we all hoped after he burst on to the scene in 2013.

Still only 31, his former team-mate Shaun Maloney believes he's still got plenty to offer.

Fingers crossed his third spell with Latics will turn out lucky - and maybe even a permanent contract next season.