Wigan Athletic 'new-boy' back where he belongs

The 29-year-old spent the first half of the campaign at the DW Stadium, featuring 13 times after joining on a temporary basis from the Millers.

It was a massive blow for Latics when Rotherham recalled him to South Yorkshire to assess their options.

But after agreeing to let him go out again on loan, Tilt says there was only one place he wanted to play his football.

“I have stayed in touch with Leam over the last few weeks, and continued to assess the situation,” he revealed.

“The lads are great here, it’s a good dressing room, and now I want to help to steady the ship and get the team out of the relegation zone.

“I am fit and ready. We actually had some really intense training back at Rotherham so I am coming back fit – even without the games – so I am ready to go and just want to help the team now.

“It's just nice to feel wanted! I've seen on Twitter and other social media platforms the comments from Wigan fans, and obviously it’s great when you know they want you to come and play for their club."

Tilt returns to a very different Latics side from even that at the beginning of January with loan men Matty Palmer, Darnell Johnson and Tom James all having moved on, and Tendayi Darikwa, George Johnston, Corey Whelan and Zach Clough having joined.

“We had good momentum going into the New Year and since then there has been a couple of ins and outs," Tilt added.

"So the immediate aim is to get back integrated into the group and to lift us out of the relegation zone."

Tilt will wear the number four shirt on his return to the DW.

Get 20% off our sports subscription package and stay up to date with all the latest Wigan Athletic news with a year’s subscription to WiganToday for less than 9p a day. Use promo code TRANSFER20