Wigan Athletic chief delivers transfer update regarding numerous links

The Scot spoke after Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Wimbledon, which leaves Latics rock bottom of League One, the only club in the third tier without a point.

On another day, Latics could - and perhaps should - have returned north with three points, but their failure to convert chances once again proved to be their undoing.

So is a specialised No.9 still on the radar this window?

"He's on my radar," Caldwell replied, honest as ever. "It's whether he's available, and whether we can afford him. The reality of the situation is - probably not.

"We'll keep looking and seeing what we can do to add to the squad and make it better. But unless we can get Erling Haaland, everything doesn't suddenly get fixed it we sign a No.9.

"There's not many No.9s in the world that score as many goals as he does, and normally they cost a hell of a lot of money.

"You saw last year the players that scored goals in this division...Dom Ballard has gone for a lot of money, Laurent Tolaj has gone for a lot of money, and Jayden Wareham will go for a lot of money.

"We don't have that. We have to build in a different way. We have to support players, to help their careers, and to build their confidence, and to help the progression of their career.

"It's what I told the players after the game...you can't keep passing up opportunities in your career...you have to grab it for what it is.

"At the moment, we're not quite doing that, and so there's obviously going to be a need to bring other players in, to push the players that are here, or get better players that are going to get into the team.

"But I don't just think it's a No.9 problem...we had half a dozen chances who had chances that they couldn't take...it's not just one player that's missing all these chances.

"It's a team problem, and what we need to do as a staff and a club is support these players and keep creating these chances. Because with the law of averages...that has to turn...and we have to keep believing in that."

What about free agent Scott Hogan, who has been training with Latics all summer and has played in several warm-up matches?

"He's someone who has scored goals in his career, and he's someone who's trained extremely well with us,” said Caldwell.

"If that opportunity comes, and we will look at it in the coming days, along with every other possibility of players that could come in.

"But I'm very confident that after Tuesday we will be stronger in terms of the options and the quality we have in attacking areas."

Exeter City centre-back Luca Woodhouse, who was signed by Caldwell last summer, has been linked with a move to Wigan.

Indeed, Grecians manager Matt Taylor admitted he’d missed the game against York City on Saturday because of transfer interest from outside.

"I will never talk about other players at other clubs,” was Caldwell’s reply.

Speaking of centre-backs, Morgan Fox was left out of the Latics squad for the second game in succession, amid talk of interest from Luton Town and MK Dons.

"No injury, just not selected,” was Caldwell’s response.

Does that mean he’ll be off this month?

"There's two days of the window to go, everybody can get bought, everybody can get sold!” replied Caldwell.

"Deadline day is for Sky Sports News and the media...they get everyone excited.

"You know my views, I hate this time of year, I can't wait for 11pm on Tuesday, when we can get back to just focusing on the football."

But how busy does Caldwell expect to be between now and the transfer deadline?

"I hope the media team and you will be busy...interviewing all these new players...and Joe (Riley, head of recruitment) is busy, getting all these deals done!” he said.

"I'll be on the phone, but also preparing for another big game on Wednesday night against MK Dons.

"It helps us with the game being on Wednesday, rather than Tuesday. But I'll say it again - the window should close before the season starts."