Wigan Athletic chief wants recognition for his team from outsiders

Latics closed the campaign with three successive wins, which saw them sneak into 12th place on the final day.

Having started the season on minus eight points, under a transfer embargo, and with the future of the club in very doubt last summer, Maloney feels the achievement of everyone inside the DW should not go unnoticed.

"Safety was always the first target, and to get to 50 points by beating Blackpool (in March) was a big thing," he said. "But I really didn't like the next two or three gamers, it felt like it was objective achieved, season done.

"And when I looked at the teams around us, and the points difference, I just wanted to finish in the top half.

"I think sometimes it gets forgotten, because of how good the players have been, but if you think back to pre-season...we had 16 kids involved, senior players handing in their notice, players doing pre-season then walking away for free…

"When you look at some of the other clubs who have been deducted points...Everton, Nottingham Forest, Reading in our league...what they've had to deal with, our players have to take huge credit for that."

When asked where the top-half finish would rank in terms of his own achievements in the game, he added: "It's massive, honestly, it's huge.

"If anyone wants to put that into perspective, take eight points off all the other teams, and see where they are...and it has a major impact on your season.

"Reading have done extremely well to stay in the league with all they've had to go through, but if you look at our players and what they've achieved...they've done incredibly well.

"I'm so happy for the players, and most of the group are young lads.

"You look at some of the Premier League clubs who've had points deductions, they've also had the chance to buy players with big, big price tags.

"Our squad is one of the youngest around...I think the kids have done okay!"