Wigan Athletic star Michael Jacobs can't wait to get cracking

The 27-year-old marked his return from three months out with a hamstring injury with the vital second goal in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Having missed a similar chunk of his first season with Latics – when he returned to help Latics to the League One title in 2015/16 – he’s hoping to again finish with a flourish.

“I was sidelined for a few months but I managed to come back strong and end well,” he told the Wigan Post.

“And that’s exactly the same kind of thing I’m looking to do this time.

“I should have 15-20 games to try and make an impact and help the boys.

“That’s almost half of the season, and there’ll be some big games and a lot of points to play for.”

Jacobs’ return coincided with Wigan’s first win in nine matches, but he doesn’t believe that run of results accurately reflected the side’s performances.

“I watched a lot of the games while I was out, and we played well in most of them, we were unfortunate not to get more points from them,” he added.

“We didn’t manage to make the most of our chances, and we also made a few individual errors at the other end.

“They are the things that make such a difference at this level, and can cost you a lot of points.

“But morale in the group was always good, and that’s never been a problem.”