'Only we can change league position', insists Wigan Athletic chief ahead of Reading visit

Gary Caldwell is well aware the League One table makes for bleak reading at the moment for Wigan Athletic - but insists 'only we can change that'.

Latics host Leam Richardson's Reading this weekend at the Brick Community Stadium rock bottom of the third tier, with only four points on the board from eight matches played.

They returned from a three-week-long international break last weekend with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Stevenage, but Caldwell didn't feel his side were a million miles away from a positive result.

"The review this week has been pretty simple," he said. "I thought we were very good in most aspects of the game.

"You talk about controlling the chaos at Stevenage, and I thought we did that really well.

"We restricted them to very little in our box, but at the other end we were a little bit safe in our play, and not enough speed and intent in our play.

"I showed the players that, and we've done a lot this week to goal, where everything - passing, drills and possession - has finished at the goal.

"We know we need to be in a better place, in terms of the league table, and only we can change that.

"Reading will be a totally different proposition than Stevenage - they're a team that's very different on transitions.

"When we have the ball, we have to be very connected, and when we lose the ball, we have to move quickly in our five-second fury, and defensive transition, and don't give them opportunity to counter attack."

With three tough away games - at Oxford United, Huddersfield Town and Leicester City - to come after the Reading match, Latics could use three precious points against the Royals.

That said, Caldwell is not putting any more pressure or expectation on his players as a result.

"When you've been in football for a while - and I've been in football my whole life - every game day is exciting, you wake up and it's a different feel," he said.

"Whether you're top of the league or bottom of the league, every game is important, and we've been focused this week on the need to compete and the desire to win.

"We know the situation, but we also know there's a long, long way to go. This team hasn't played many games together, and it is developing and progressing.

"We also recognise the need for points is big, for our supporters to have that feel-good factor, and be able to leave the stadium in a much better frame of mind than they have been."

Caldwell must decide how to utilise striker Christian Saydee, who returned to the bench at Stevenage for the first time this season after sustaining a calf injury at the beginning of pre-season.

"We put him on the bench at Stevenage, knowing he'd only be able to play 10 minutes at the most," added the Latics boss.

"But we had to take Brad (Burrowes) off the field, because he'd played a lot of minutes, he'd had a high week, and he was a potential injury risk in the last 30 minutes.

"We definitely don't want to lose Brad, because I thought he was outstanding again in the game, which contributed to Chris not coming on.

"Regarding the rest of the squad, he added: "There's a couple we'll assess tomorrow, and see if they'll be available for the game."