Wigan Athletic pinpoints Championship 'difference'

The 26-year-old had a few near-misses at Portsmouth before finally winning promotion to the second tier with Latics last term.

Both he and the team have picked up where they left off, with Latics in the top half after eight matches and Whatmough having taken to the Championship like a duck to water.

The next test for him and Latics comes this weekend against a Reading side that have started the season even more impressively.

But Whatmough is content to take each game as it comes - knowing danger is around every corner.

"It's a massive test, because you're playing against different strikers every week, who all have different qualities," he said.

"You've got quick ones, strong ones, those who have quick movement, and you're learning about yourself every week in terms of what works and what you need to do.

"This thing you probably notice more than anything at this level is that mistakes tend to get punished a lot more.

"So it's trying to make sure mistakes are few and far between, and staying switched on all the time.

"It's all very well being switched on for 86 minutes, but in this league you will get punished for the four minutes you're not.

"You saw with the Burnley game (last month), they will punish each and every single mistake you made, and that's what we found.

"It certainly wasn't a 5-1 game, but they are such a clinical team and took every chance that came their way.

"I do think we've learned from that game, though, with the performances you've seen since then.

The 5-1 mauling by Burnley remains Latics' only league setback so far, with the backline's record in the other games comparable to the vast majority of the

division.

"We work hard as a defensive unit with Rob Kelly, looking at the last game and learning lessons in terms of what we did right and what we can do better," acknowledged Whatmough.

"The staff we have here only want to help us, we're always learning lessons and improving both individually and collectively.

Whatmough is also looking to make his presence felt at the other end of the field, after heading against a post at Huddersfield in midweek.

"We also work on the training ground with Rob to make sure we get into the right areas for attacking corners," he added.

"It's something I know I need to work on and bring into my game, and bring a couple more goals to the table.

"From a personal viewpoint, it's something I will keep working on and hopefully we'll see some of that come to fruition.

"It's all right for me, and Tilty (Curtis Tilt) and Jase (Jason Kerr), to help keep the clean sheets.

"But we also need to chip in at the other end and help the lads who are working so hard to score the goals."