Wigan Athletic 'not feeling the fatigue'

Having played EIGHT games during February, Latics have a further SEVEN fixtures on the way in March, and at least EIGHT scheduled for April.

And despite an underpar performance in the 3-0 loss to Sunderland at the weekend – which saw Latics crash to a first home defeat in four months – Richardson says that wasn’t down to fatigue.

“They’re paid to be fit, aren’t they?” the Latics boss said.

“Listen, we’ve got sports scientists, cryo chambers, the medical team, everyone involved to help them.

“It’s their pressure to stay fit and to stay healthy and have the energy they need.

“It’s my pressure to use that on the pitch, and get as much out of every player as I can.

“We try not to mention the schedule, or how many games we’re playing.

“We’ve had a couple of cup runs as well, but we’ve tried to put together a squad capable of managing and coping with that workload.

“If you look at how teams and how players finish games, we’ve hit very good numbers in recent weeks.

“Whether that’s high speed or spring distance, we’re very pleased with the numbers, and the longer we can do that, the more games we’ll win.”

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