Wigan Athletic chief lifts lid on surprise goalkeeper decision

For the first time in the league this season, Toby Savin wasn't named as back-up to the ever-present Sam Tickle, with Caldwell choosing instead to name an extra outfield player on the bench.

It wasn't enough to prevent Latics falling to a 3-0 defeat, but the Scot admits it's something he will look to repeat in future.

"It's something I did last season at Exeter," he said. "It's absolutely nothing against Toby, and I spoke to him before we made the decision.

"And I must say his reaction was outstanding, in that whatever the team needs, he is there to support that.

"He was obviously there in the warm-up to support Sam, and we need everybody in the squad to show the attitude he showed.

"I felt our bench could be very strong, in terms of options, with another outfield player, and I thought all of the outfield players gave us something different during the game.

"We made all five substitutions, which I thought changed the game in different ways...they all gave us something.

"It's something that we might change as we go along, and go back to having a goalie on the bench, but I'll assess that on a game-by-game basis."

Caldwell didn't feel the need to speak to Tickle before the game, despite the extra pressure on him to see out the game.

"I don't think it's something you make a big thing of," added Caldwell. "The goalie comes off in a game much, much less than one per cent of the time, so in terms of the percentages, and the risk factors attached to it, it's very minimal.

"We know what we need to do should something happen, but I think it gives us so many more options in terms of how to change a game - from an attacking point of view - that it is worth the risk.

"It is something I have done in the last, and it's worked really well. And it is something we will look at in future, depending on who's available."

So who will take the gloves if an outfield player is required to step in?

"Hopefully we'll never find out!" he replied.