Wigan Athletic predicament 'can tighten the group' in adversity - Championship boss

So says Watford manager Chris Wilder, whose side were held 1-1 at the weekend by a Latics side who have still to receive their most recent wages which were due on March 10.

And Wilder knows what he's talking about, having led his Northampton Town side to the League Two title in 2015/16 - despite the players and staff not being paid their October and November wages.

“Players do get paid," he said. "I know that because I’ve been in that position.

“I had that for six months and the team got promoted, and got 99 points. So it’s not an excuse.

“The people that suffer are those who sit outside the bubble of the PFA - the people in the ticket office, the people in the canteen, those sorts of people.

“I do think it tightens you up a bit more as a group."

Despite being frustrated at last Saturday's result, Wilder gave huge credit to Shaun Maloney's men for fighting back to equalise through James McClean.

“In a way, I want to give credit to Wigan because they had a right go," he added in the Watford Observer. “With what’s going off at the club, for their players and manager to do what they’ve done, I’ve got to give them a right load of credit.

“They could have got the white flag out after 45 minutes when they were on the ropes. But they didn’t.

“Shaun is a talented coach and everyone knows what’s done.

"He had a difficult time at Hibs and then took a job on at his old club.

“I thought they played well in possession and they have some good, tidy players."

Latics boss Maloney and chief executive Mal Brannigan have spent the beginning of the week in Bahrain to hold crunch talks with chairman Talal Al Hammad.

The team is without a fixture now until a week on Saturday because of the international break.

They return to action with a massive home game against fellow strugglers QPR at the DW.