Wigan Athletic hero reveals the secrets of his success!

Chey DunkleyChey Dunkley
Chey Dunkley
Chey Dunkley has revealed his reinvention as a goalscorer extraordinaire is the result of long hours on the Wigan Athletic training ground.

The big centre-back is the most prolific marksman in the country at the moment, with three goals in a week - including two on Saturday to see off Charlton.

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Before last weekend's goal at Hull, he'd amazingly gone 17 months without finding the net.

But some overtime at Euxton - under the watchful eye of first-team coach Anthony Barry - has clearly worked wonders!

"I'm just happy to chip in where I can," he told the Wigan Post.

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"And to be fair, we have been working on it in training, the set-pieces.

"One of the things we spoke about in pre-season was I was getting so many 'first contacts'.

"The staff decided it was something we would work on every Tuesday, and every Thursday, with the set-piece taker - and this is the result to be fair!

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"I have to give credit to the staff who've been working with me, and it's no surprise to be honest,

"I'm still getting that first contact, and now I'm managing to convert more of them into goals."

Four of Wigan's last five goals have come from centre-backs, with Cedric Kipre also finding the net recently at QPR.

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"I said to big Cedric on Thursday: 'Hey, we're joint top goalscorers at the moment!'" Dunkley laughed.

"Obviously we're centre-backs, and our primary job is to defend.

"But any time we can chip in, it's a bonus for us.

"My aim is obviously not to be the top goalscorer in the squad - that's for others.

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"My main role will always be to keep clean sheets. that's how I'll be judged."

Dunkley also revealed the secret behind his goal celebration - putting his hand above his eyes as if to be looking for someone.

"It comes from a celebration Ivan Toney used to do in training a a couple of years ago," he added.

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"When he used to score a goal in training, he used to look for the goalie...he'd be peeking for the goalie!

"I really liked it, we had a little joke about it, and I said to him: 'Next time I score I'm going to have a little look for the goalie as well!'

"I started doing it, I scored a couple of goals two seasons ago, but it went a bit dry last year because I didn't score any goals!

"Last week at Hull, I looked at my wrist as if to say: 'It's been a while since I last scored!'

"But I thought it was time to bring back the 'peeking' celebration, so there we are."

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