Wigan Athletic star happy after coming in from the cold

The on-loan Watford striker didn't make the 18 for Maloney's first game in charge, but scored his first goal in two years to earn Latics a precious point at Bristol City in midweek.

"I was out of the squad for the Blackburn game, I was the first sub on against Huddersfield, and then obviously started in midweek and scored," he smiled.

"Naturally I was really disappointed to not be in the squad.

"In the previous game (against Luton, Kolo Toure's last game in charge) I was inches away from scoring, with the header that was ruled out for offside.

"Obviously I made that clear to him but, as a footballer, sometimes you've got to take that in your stride.

"I made sure that the next day in training I got my head down and worked hard, and that's all you can do.

"It's obviously been the whole range of emotions for me, but the manager's been brilliant since he's been here.

"He's organised us a lot more, we feel like we're in games a lot more, and it's about keeping that going for the rest of the season."

Latics showed their mettle after bouncing back from conceding their first goal under Maloney at Bristol City.

"It was tough, very tough, we had to dig deep at times," Fletcher acknowledged. "But I did think we deserved to get something out of the game.

"At half-time, we were very annoyed with ourselves at the manner of the goal we conceded.

"We pride ourselves on working hard on the training ground, and then conceding so softly was so disappointing.

"The manager gave us a talking to, but the players had already given ourselves a talking to, and we went out in the second half with a bit more aggression.

"We're moving in the right direction, but at the same time we all know we can always do better.

"At the same time, if you'd have offered us five points from the first three games, we'd have bitten your hand off.

"Obviously Norwich are a good side, but we go into every game thinking we can get something out of it.”