Wigan Athletic: Ex-Arsenal midfielder Matt Smith shares his excitement for the start of the new season and discusses how he's settling in

Shaun Maloney’s side get their League One campaign up and running away to Derby County on Saturday afternoon.

Smith, who has joined Latics on a permanent deal from Arsenal, states everyone has helped to make him feel welcome and now he’s just looking forward to getting started.

“I think everyone is excited,” he said.

“It’s a big game on Saturday, hopefully we can get off to a good start.

“We’re feeling confident- we’ve got a good pre-season under our belts.

“We’re just looking forward to the game and hopefully we’ll get three points.

“Within the team we have targets but we are just taking it game by game, obviously we want to get off to a good start and put ourselves in a good place.

“I’m really enjoying my time here, the boys and all the staff have been good to me.

“Tactically I’ve learnt a lot here already, even just in this small bit of pre-season.

“There’s a good mixture of players here. There’s some new and some who have come through the academy- which is always nice and says a lot about the club.

“The experience I’ve picked up on my loan moves has made it easier to settle in here because I sort of knew what to expect.

“It’s always difficult leaving a place where you’ve been for your whole life, but I felt as if this was the right club to make that step and help me develop as a player.

“I was attracted by the style of play and speaking to a few people about how Shaun (Maloney) operates as a manager, then the stature of the club speaks for itself.”

Saturday’s opener is set to be a tough test for Latics, with Derby among the favourites to win League One promotion.

“It’ll be a tough game,” Smith added.

“They’re a good team, but we’re feeling confident and we’ve had a good pre-season, so it’ll be a good challenge.

“If we can play the way that the gaffer wants us to, and carry on what we’ve been doing, then we should be fine.”