Wigan Athletic chief on life beyond Thelo - 'My biggest challenge...'

The Scot is currently trying to balance keeping Latics on track in the league, while trying to strengthen the squad in the transfer window...while trying - unsuccessfully in the case of leading scorer Thelo Aasgaard this week - to keep hold of his prize assets.

Ahead of this weekend's visit of Lincoln City, Maloney spoke about the difficulty of spinning so many plates while the team is facing playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday most weeks.

"With the relentless nature of the fixtures, the biggest challenge is trying to integrate the new players into the squad and the team as we go," he said.

"And since Thelo's departure, we've also had to look at the balance of the team, and the balance we'll have to find, in terms of replacing the goals and the creativity we'll miss.

"The new players have brought plenty of energy, and I think we've already seen glimpses of what they all offer. But they still need to understand what we're asking them to do, which probably needs a bit more time than possibly even I envisaged."

Latics' first outing without talisman Aasgaard saw them go down 1-0 at Peterborough, where they failed to muster a single effort on goal against a side with the worst defensive record in the third tier.

And Maloney has called on others to use the departure of the Norway Under-21 international to 'step up' - both on and off the pitch.

"Thelo was quite a quiet figure off the pitch, and a quiet leader in the dressing room," he said. "But on the pitch he was a lot louder, he really led by example, and we will miss that.

"That means an opportunity for others to step up and show what they can do to help us fill that void. Whether that's placing more emphasis on the wide players, or set-plays...encouraging and challenging our defenders to be more aggressive in those moments, and being more of a threat."

One man who will be looking to step up to the plate is fellow Academy product Jensen Weir, who has now completed a three-game ban for his recent sending-off at Stevenage.

"We've missed him, and the three games have gone by very quickly," acknowledged Maloney. "It'll be good to have him back, because he can play in a number of different positions as well as obviously the No.'10'."

Maloney once again used his pre-match media duties to talk up another graduate from the club's youth system, who has impressed in the engine room in recent weeks following a number of injuries in that position.

"I've been really pleased with Harry, and I would imagine he'll start in the next two or three games, which will underline the massive amount of progress he's made," added Maloney.

"And this is what can happen in football...when there are injuries, or a player leaves, it's an opportunity for the next one to come in."