Wigan Athletic chief will continue to 'respect the FA Cup'

Latics overcame a strong Blackburn side in a five-goal thriller at the weekend to set up a fourth-round trip to fellow Championship outfit Stoke.

The scheduled League One visit of Crewe on February 5 will become the latest fixture to be rearranged - with Latics already FOUR games behind some of their rivals.

While desperate for the EFL to step in and provide a solution to the mayhem, Richardson says 'throwing' the FA Cup is not an option.

"I think you have to give the FA Cup the respect it deserves," he said.

"You look at Saturday, against Blackburn Rovers, a big local derby, you can't do anything else.

"Once you start trying to be clever, making changes for the sake of it, you come unstuck.

"Look, we know the challenges in front of us, and the more successful we are, the more games we'll face.

"We've been in the game long enough to know what, and where it will end, we're going to find out.

"The pressure now is to rearrange games as quickly as possible, and for the lads to peak every three days, which will be tough.

"But that's why you try to assemble a big squad, because I've never seen anything won with 11 players."

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