Wigan Athletic chief picks positives out of 'obviously bad' timing of international break

Latics saw their scheduled home game against Stevenage postponed at the weekend, because half a dozen players were called up to represent their national sides.

As well as having an extra week to stew on a disappointing start to the campaign, Latics will also lose out financially, as the rearranged fixture will be played midweek - which will have a natural knock-on effort on finances.

It's not a new issue, with three of the four international breaks last season coinciding with Latics home matches.

And despite chairman Ben Goodburn and secretary Sarah Guilfoyle raising their concerns with the EFL, all three international breaks this side of Christmas will affect games at the Brick Community Stadium.

"It's obviously bad for the club financially," acknowledged Maloney. "But it's also the reason why Charlie Hughes went for such a significant fee this summer.

"He became an England Under-20 international, Thelo (Aasgaard) is a Norway Under-21 international regular...that's really positive...so there's both sides to that.

"And overall, it's a good time for a break, in the sense we have so many new bodies who are still getting used to their new departments.

"At the same time, it's a good opportunity for some to have a bit of a break and a few days away from football.

"It is what it is...I've said before, I think in League One nowadays, with the amount of call-ups - at all levels, Under-21s, Under-20s, Under-18s - we should be looking at scheduling in international breaks.

"But I know that's tough for the fans, missing their Saturday games, and makes it harder for them to watch their team."

Latics saw six players called up this time - Sam Tickle (England Under-21s), Luke Chambers (England Elite Sqiad/Under-20s), Calvin Ramsay (Scotland Under-21s), Baba Adeeko (Ireland Under-21s), Thelo Aasgaard (Norway Under-21s) and Dale Taylor (Northern Ireland Under-21s).

"It's great, it's amazing," added Maloney. "Our goalkeeper being part of the England Under-21s, which is an amazing group of players.

"Even the loan players, it's great to see them going out to represent their countries...and even Tom Huddlestone got a call-up to the coaching staff with the 21s, which was another positive."