Why Shaun Maloney's 'stable' outlook will keep Wigan Athletic on the straight and narrow

Latics make the long trip to Stevenage this weekend looking to arrest a slump that's seen them lose five of their last six league matches.

Prior to that, Maloney's men had been the talk of League One, having flown out of the traps - despite their eight-point deduction - which saw them win at Derby on the opening day, and hammer neighbours Bolton 4-0 on their own patch.

However, just as the Latics boss didn't allow himself to get too carried away with the start, he does now not feel as low as some supporters at the downturn, which has seen them drop to second-bottom of the table.

"I have to be pretty stable," he said. "Yes, we've lost three in a row, but the Bristol Rovers game (the first game in the sequence) was very different to the other two.

"After the game, with how I spoke to the media, there were things in that game that I really didn't like.

"But the two performances after that - even though we lost them both - I have to be quite stable with that.

"Portsmouth (last weekend), with 10 men, against the best team in the league at the moment, I could see big improvements from the Bristol Rovers game.

"And Burton (in midweek), I could see we were far better defensively than we had been in previous weeks.

"With the ball, yes, we can get miles better than we were.

"But I have to be pretty stable, as I was at the start of the season, when we won 4-0 at Bolton, and also when we won at Derby.

"I still understood there were things we needed to work on, and that meant I kept stable.

"As long as I can see we are still improving, or trying to, I'm not going to change drastically from result to result.

"Obviously I want to send the supporters home with a win, and generally with them it's black and white.

"If we win it's good, and if we lose it's not. But I have to be a little bit more stable...that's my job."

The mixed results has meant expectations fluctuating since the start of the campaign.

"With the start that we had, expectations were high, and I like that," Maloney acknowledged.

"But the message always from me, even after the wins, was that the first priority was to stay in this league.

"I knew there would be times when the team would go through tougher moments.

"But the goal for the season remains the same, and that is to make sure we stay in this league."

Latics have a two-week gap in the league after Saturday due to the scheduled visit of Peterborough the following weekend being postponed due to international commitments.

Not that Maloney is placing any more importance on the result.

"It’s a big game, but they’re all big games, no matter if it’s before an international break or not,” he added.

"We're expecting another tough challenge from Stevenage.

"I watched their game against Oxford, and they're just really good at what they do.

"They've got a really good front two, they defend aggressively, in either a back four or a back five, with generally the same principles.

"They've got a brilliant mentality, and they'll look to get it in your half and your box as quickly as possible.

"It will be another big test, it might feel similar to what Burton did, so there's certain things we need to improve on."