We have unfinished business - Wigan Athletic boss

Latics are back in the second tier after two years in League One, and face local rivals Preston in the season opener on July 30.

Promotion helped to right the huge wrong of 2020, when Latics were relegated to the third tier only after being docked 12 points for being placed in administration.

Indeed, it's exactly two years this Thursday since Latics hammered Stoke 3-0 to virtually secure their safety - before everything changed the following day when Gerald Krasner and Co entered stage right.

For Richardson, it's a chance to pick up where the club was forced to leave off, and write the next chapter in Latics history.

"Yes, you'd hope we can build on what this club managed to do previously," he said. "And that didn't happen overnight, it happened over a long period of time.

"The Stoke game was the last one before the rug was pulled...that was the culmination of three years of hard work from a lot of people.

"We started the journey back two years ago, we knew the challenges that faced us, how difficult the crossroads were going to be, but also the strategic measures we could put in place, and the quality we must reach, to make it possible.

"It's credit to everybody involved, because a lot of hard work has gone in on and off the field to build this club back up.

"It's not a 9-5 job, it's one that quite often goes long into the night, a lot of which most people don't see.

"You get judged mostly for what happens in the 90 minutes on a matchday, but it's about the structure and the ethos that’s implemented over a much longer period of time."

Latics are in Spain this week for warm weather training, with their pre-season programme beginning next Tuesday at Bamber Bridge.

"The players know the challenge ahead, and that they're at a football club where there'll be a healthy competition for places," Richardson acknowledged.

"It's important to have that, and they'll be under no illusions the player next to them might be trying to take their shirt.

"They need to be ready for what's to come, and they'll do everything they can to make sure they're ready for that."