Wigan Athletic boss opens up on further talks with owner Mike Danson

Latics were handed an unscheduled Tuesday night trip down to the capital as a result of the original game being postponed last month due to international commitments.

With new Latics owner Mike Danson spending much of his time in London, Maloney will stay on after the game to gain further clarity on how the future – both short term and long term – will look.

"We'll be meeting the chairman again on Wednesday after the game for some more talks,” he said. "Hopefully that will lead to more understanding of where we are with the squad, the training ground, the pitch, everything.

"Look, it's not been easy for the ownership, but they've been very good with me, very open, and I’m looking forward to the meeting.”

Of most pressing concern is the contract situation, with a staggering 14 players – as things stand – entering the final weeks of their stints as Latics players.

They include senior players Ben Amos, Jason Kerr, Tom Pearce, Jordan Jones, Stephen Humphrys, Callum McManaman and skipper Josh Magennis.

In addition, Latics also have seven loan players – Kell Watts (Newcastle), Liam Morrison (Bayern Munich), Luke Chambers (Liverpool), Charlie Goode (Brentford), Liam Shaw (Celtic), Martial Gdo (Fulham) and Charlie Kelman (QPR) coming to the ends of their temporary deals.

But as Maloney alluded to, he’s also anxious to put aside some of the budget to help the hardworking groundstaff improve the quality of the playing surface at the DW Stadium, which missed its annual maintenance work last summer due to the well-documented off-field problems.

"Look, the pitch is hard...the pitch is hard to play through,” added Maloney. "And that was the case for both sides on Saturday, because I think Port Vale are a decent side.

"But the way we want to play...I need to give the groundsman more support.

"We have some brilliant people here, who work so hard, and I need to try to give them more support for our pitch.

"When I look at some of our rivals, and I see their pitches...I think if we have a similar surface, it really will help us in what we're trying to do.”