Wigan Athletic star admits step-up has been 'massive'

The 25-year-old forward joined Latics last summer from Portsmouth, following his former boss Paul Cook to the DW Stadium.

It's taken Lowe time to settle into life in the north west, with his 39 appearances producing only three goals to date.

But he's lifted the lid on the reasons behind that bedding-in process - which he says includes a 25 per cent increase in workload.

"It’s a big jump between the leagues," Lowe said. "From what I’ve been told, it’s the biggest jump in football in comparison.

"When you look at everything, the fitness levels, distances you run, quality of players and calibre of teams, it is a big jump.

"The example I use when highlighting this is on average in League One you would run 10k a game...in the Championship it is between 12k and 12-and-a-half.

"That’s the easiest way to get your point across, these two numbers.

"I’ve no idea where you get that extra 2k from, but it has to be done.

"I thought I worked hard at Pompey. Then at Wigan you see the numbers in training the next day after a match and you wonder how you managed it.

"I’ve never run that far in my life! I always thought I was doing high numbers, now they’re even higher.

"It does take time to adapt. There’s a saying – tired legs and tired mind – so you must train your mind to enable better decisions and to execute technique while you are tired.

"There are a lot of League One players who will be technically good enough or even better than players in the Championship.

"However, fitness and consistency are massive.

"At Pompey, we went from League Two to League One to challenge for the play-offs in our first two seasons, while Luton were promoted again in their first season. Compare that to how teams struggle coming into the Championship.

"It’s crazy to think the jump from the Championship to the Premier League isn’t seen as that much by people who have experienced it.

"I can’t imagine it being a little jump, personally I think that will be another massive step."

Lowe was playing probably the best football of his season before the action was suspended last month, with two of his three goals coming in his last nine outings.

"It has probably taken me the course of the season to adapt," he told the Portsmouth News, sister paper of the Wigan Post.

"Once you get halfway through the campaign, having played everyone once, you get to learn and watch so try to adjust your game and add things which you previously didn’t work on as much.

"As the season has gone on, I think I have got progressively better."