Wigan Athletic boss sets opening-day challenge

That’s what John Sheridan is calling for ahead of his first home game in charge of Wigan Athletic against Gillingham this weekend.

Despite the club’s well-documented problems in recent months, the new boss is focused on only one thing.

“Playing at home I expect us to win the game – without being disrespectful to Gillingham,” he said.

“They’ve got some big players and they will be a threat from set-pieces.

“If we allow them to play to their strengths, we’ll be in for a very long afternoon.

“But at the same time if we are at our game, and be like we have been in training – nice, bright, sharp – and in parts of the game at Ipswich, we'll be all right.

“I just feel we could get up the field maybe 10 yards further, move the ball a little bit quicker than we did, then we can cause teams problems.”

Having been only in the job for a week, it’s been a whirlwind settling-in period for the 55-year-old.

“I’ve managed to get a good week of working with the players,” he acknowledged.

“Obviously last week was all a bit of a rush, so to get the chance to get to know the players really was nice.

“I’ve not come in to change too much in terms of the way they work or the style of play, but it’s just a different voice than they’ve had before.

“Everything happened so quickly last week, one minute I’m over in Ireland with a game on the Friday, and the next I’m over here at Wigan.

“Obviously the circumstances at the moment are challenging, but that’s something I’m going to try not to get too involved with.”

One man who won’t be involved against the Gill is right-back Josh Clarke, who only joined on a one-month contract last Friday, but whose Latics career looks to be over before it’s begun.

But after appearing for Development Squad in the week against AFC Fylde, he suffered discomfort in his hamstring, which could sideline him for several weeks.

“Josh unfortunately has an injury, and it happened before I came in,” reported Sheridan.

“It’s a hamstring injury and it’s unlikely we’ll see him on the field.”

The Latics boss has already moved to reinforce the right-back position, with the capture of Hibernian defender Tom James on a loan arrangement until January 17.