We left a lot of points out there, admits Wigan Athletic skipper

Latics secured their safety with two games to spare, having picked up an impressive four points against Norwich and Leeds – the top two sides in the division for much of the campaign – earlier this month.

And Morsy says managing to hold their own against such massive clubs, on a vastly inferior budget, should not be underestimated.

“Yes we’ve thrown away a lot of points this year, and we should be even higher in the table,” Morsy admitted.

“But at the same time some of the biggest clubs in the land have been unable to get out of this division for a number of years.

“Fair play to the lads, the staff, the fans, everyone for sticking together.

“We all believed we could hold our own at this level, even when we got ourselves into a bit of trouble.

“Hand on heart, I honestly didn’t ever have any doubts we wouldn’t get ourselves safe.

“There was maybe one time, about a month ago, I found myself watching the scores from elsewhere come in, and I found myself cheering a goal against Rotherham.

“I thought to myself: ‘I can’t believe this is happening!’

“It took us until the games against Norwich and Leeds to prove how good a side we are.

“And credit to the gaffer for keeping us so positive, and believing we were good enough to take on teams like that.

“What we have to do now is learn from the mistakes we’ve made this year and come back stronger.

"Because we know we should have finished even higher in the table – we’ve left a lot of points out there.”