Wigan Athletic gamebreaker tipped to step up from bench role

The 26-year-old again showed his worth off the bench at Oxford in midweek, with his superb cross being headed home by Thelo Aasgaard to give Latics hope of a late leveller.

It's not the first time Smith has impacted on a game in-play, including a goal-of-the-month equaliser at Barnsley last month and several impressive cameos.

And manager Shaun Maloney admits the summer signing from Burton is hammering on the door for inclusion from the off.

"Jonny is certainly pushing hard for a start," said Maloney. "I think with the system change that we've had, it's been harder for him at times. But I'm really happy with where he's at.

"I thought he was brilliant when he came on at Oxford, and I thought he was brilliant as well when he came on against Exeter.

"He has to be pushing, because he is a big threat whenever he is on the pitch.

"But we also have to make sure we have the right balance in the team."

Smith suffered the worst possible start to his Latics career when he pulled up lame in the very first session of pre-season training last summer.

"Jonny knows how much I think of him," acknowledged Maloney. "But he had a very difficult pre-season, where he missed pretty much every day of training.

"He's shown how much of an impact he can have, though, and I think he will make a big impact between now and the end of the season.

"I also think he will make an even bigger impact next season, when he's able to have more of a settled run...but I'm really happy with him."

Smith - who came through the ranks at Wrexham, before moving on to Bristol City, Cheltenham, Fylde, Tranmere, Oldham, Swindon and Burton - has made 22 appearances for Latics this term, scoring two goals.

But only eight of those have been starts, of which just four have come in the league.