Wigan Athletic boss unveils two new additions on Hungary trip

The Latics boss has moved swiftly to bolster his backroom staff, following the surprise departure of Stephen Crainey to Bolton Wanderers last week.

Huddlestone is a former team-mate of Maloney's at Hull City, and joins Latics following two seasons as player-coach of the Manchester United Under-21s side.

Iftikhar has most recently been coaching the Pakistan Under-20 side, although he scouted for Roberto Martinez at Wigan, Everton and with the Belgium national side - where he worked alongside Maloney for a time.

"I am delighted to welcome Tom and Shadab to the football club, who both join us with vastly different experiences," said Maloney.

"Tom has arrived following two seasons at Manchester United Under-21s and we also worked together at Hull as team-mates. He is an extremely calm, but also very passionate coach and has been involved at the elite level for a long time which will help our younger players.

"I worked previously with Shadab at Belgium, and he also worked with Roberto Martinez at Everton and Wigan, and therefore understands the DNA of our club. He most recently was head coach of the Pakistan Under-20s side and has an incredible work ethic and is extremely passionate about coaching.

"Both will be great additions to the coaching team.

Huddlestone, 37, made almost 600 appearances for a number of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Derby County and Hull, as well as winning four England caps.

“I am very excited," he said. "I played with the manager for a couple of seasons at Hull City, and I am very grateful to get this opportunity. Hopefully, I can bring a lot to the coaching staff.

“The last two years have been really educational from a coaching standpoint. It’s given me the ambition as coaching is something I want to do long term, and I’m grateful to have this opportunity at the beginning of my coaching journey.

“The first few days I’ve been here, everyone has been keen. The manager has everyone’s full attention and everyone believes what we are going after this year."

Iftikhar's story is rather more unconventional.

The 35-year-old who hails from Preston, decided to study the method of play adopted by Martinez at Wigan.

He produced a dossier on how to beat Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, which impressed Martinez to enlist him as a voluntary opposition scout at Latics for two seasons.

Iftikhar followed Martinez to Everton before he fulfilled his managerial ambitions overseas with Mongolian side Bayangol FC and Samoan outfit Kiwi FC, taking charge of Fort William in Scotland before joining the Belgium set-up.

“I am very excited and very grateful to the gaffer for giving me the opportunity," said Iftikhar. I cannot wait to get started and hopefully, we can have a fantastic season.

"Wigan Athletic has always been close to my heart. I started here with Roberto Martinez a long, long time ago and I am really excited to be back and to be involved in the project.

“It’s an absolute honour to be working for this football club. The gaffer has been a mentor to me, and I have learned a lot already from him, and I am very happy to work under such a top manager."