Why block of five fixtures will 'shape our season' - Wigan Athletic boss

Latics returned from the international break with a 1-1 draw at Leyton Orient on Saturday.

It was the first of three days in the space of six days, with Fleetwood visiting the DW in midweek ahead of Friday's FA Cup second round trip to York City.

With an EFL Trophy round of 32 home clash against Stockport to be fitted into the schedule before the league visit of Lincoln on December 9, the season could look very different come the middle of next month.

"We have to make sure we're ready to go again, and again," said Maloney. "It's one down and four to go in this little five-game run, which will be huge in shaping how this season will go.

"We have to get back to work, we were thinking about Fleetwood as soon as we got on the bus home from Orient, and we'll be ready to go again.

"Where we are in the table, we have to try as desperately hard as we can to get away from that bottom four.

"The next three league games will be very, very important for us to give us the platform to do that. In addition, we've got games in two cup competitions, which we're also taking very, very seriously.

"As well as the kudos for the club and the fans, it's important to us that we try to progress in every competition we play."