Wigan Athletic boss tips Kieffer Moore to achieve his goal

The big striker, a £2.5million summer signing from Barnsley, has yet to score for Latics.

But he marked his first competitive start for Wales last week with a goal in the 1-1 draw in Slovakia, and followed it up with an impressive performance in the 1-1 draw against Croatia in Cardiff last Sunday.

“I’m delighted for Kieffer, such a hard-working boy,” said Cook. “Like so often in football these days, if you’re not an instant success, then you’re deemed a failure.

“If you’re a striker, and you go a few games without a goal, you’re never going to score!

"He’s a lad who’s adjusting to life at a new club, he works ever so hard for his team and he’s scored a great goal on international duty.

"I’m sure that’ll give him great confidence going into Sunday.”

After a fortnight to stew over the 1-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday – when Moore saw a close-range header tipped on to the bar by Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood – Latics could possibly have done without having to wait an additional 24 hours to play.

Cook, though, refuses to bemoan his lot.

”You’re always looking for edges and margins and any sort of advantage you can get,” he added.

”But the reality is you just get on with it, and for us that means the game on Sunday.

"It’s a tough week, with two away games following in quick succession, but it is what it is.”