Shaun Maloney has spoken of the balancing act of 'freshening up' his Wigan Athletic side while trying to maintain continuity in the starting XI.

The Latics boss made six changes in midweek against rock-bottom Burton Albion, whose victory at the Brick killed the positivity of back-to-back wins at Mansfield and Stevenage.

No fear factor, but home record is a big concern - Wigan Athletic boss

Ollie Norburn started for the first time with Jensen Weir banned, with Maloney also recalling Jason Kerr, Jonny Smith, Michael Olakibge and Dale Taylor - and handing a full debut to Jon Mellish - at the expense of James Carragher, Luke Robinson, Joseph Hungbo, Silko Thomas and Will Goodwin.

Jon Mellish - making his full Latics debut - was one of six changes for the midweek visit of Burton

placeholder image — Jon Mellish - making his full Latics debut - was one of six changes for the midweek visit of Burton

Despite taking the lead through Thelo Aasgaard, the side struggled to hit the heights of recent weeks and suffered a damaging 2-1 defeat.

"One of the changes was obviously enforced, with Jensen being suspended," explained Maloney. "And with the new players we've signed this month...I've not wanted to put them all in at once, I've tried to do it one or two at a time.

"It's just been to freshen up the team, because we've got six games in the space of 18 days...but I'll reflect on that for sure. I ask a lot of our wingers...and I'm really trying to search for some reasonable consistency from them, in terms of output. But mostly the reason is freshness, because we're in the middle of a very tough schedule."

Maloney admitted leaving out Academy products Carragher and Robinson was particularly difficult after impressive run-outs at Stevenage.

"With Robinson, I'm aware he hasn't played too many three-game weeks, and the amount of time he's been out," he said. "Carragher...that was a tough choice...a really tough choice...I brought my captain (Kerr) back in, but Carragher did absolutely nothing wrong. Look, I wanted to bring some freshness into the game, but we lost the game, so I definitely didn't get the selection right."

Assessing the result, Maloney mused: "We scored an amazing first goal, but that took five, six, seven, eight passes to create a certain space. But very, very quickly, when it went to 1-1, I felt a real edge, and it sort of forced the play...it felt like everyone wanted us to go forward, sometimes at the wrong time."