Professional

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A midweek trip to deepest Nottinghamshire isn’t usually the way I’d plan on spending a Tuesday in January but thanks to last week’s second Ice Age it became a necessity.

It was one of those nights where earlier in the season Wigan Athletic may well have crumbled, indeed when we played Mansfield at home. That night we were the better team for much of the game but struggled to impose ourselves, like we have on numerous occasions this season.

But the difference now is this side is really starting to come together. Even with the horrific injury list which has seen us lose three first choice central midfielders, two first choice left-backs and our first choice right winger.

Some may say Latics rode their luck in the first half, certainly for the first twenty minutes or so. But really after that Latics grew in to the game, the second part of the first half was all Latics and they continued that in the first half.

What more can be said about Thelo Aasgaard that hasn’t already been said?

Along with Sam Tickle he’s battling it out for the most impressive product to be produced by the academy in recent years, some may have questioned his consistency at the start of the season but by god he’s showing that now.

His header showed a physicality and power to his game that wasn’t there previously but the second was absolutely top drawer.

After that it was a case of Latics seeing out the match and they did that perfectly with a performance that was professional with a capital P. The FA Cup means so much to this club and it showed on Tuesday evening.

Let’s not forget Mansfield have been one of the form teams in the league this season. Nigel Clough has them drilled well and they’ve taken some big scalps this season.

Thankfully though not us this time, and Latics left Lee Anderson country with the bragging rights returning to Red Rose Lancashire.

So it’s on to Round Four.

Fulham at home would have been great if it had been reversed, a Saturday afternoon by the Thames would have been a perfect reward for those putting in the hard miles across the country this season, but then again we’ve a poor record at Craven Cottage so maybe we can have another of those famous FA Cup matches back in Wigan, ala 2018 perhaps.

A word to those coming in to the side yesterday, Scott Smith and Jensen Weir definitely grew in to the game and Luke Robinson was excellent on his return to the side at left back.

Smith in particular has a lot of responsibility on those young shoulders at the minute, so much so that Maloney has indicated that they’ll be looking to strengthen that area in the transfer window that wouldn’t have been the case without the injuries we’ve experienced.

Some were predicting Robinson would be moving on this month, I hope that isn’t the case. Equally Will Goodwin was impressive when he came on and certainly puts himself about.

So it’s back to league action on Saturday and another long old away day at Stevenage. Last season saw the most ridiculous match at Stevenage with the referee handing out cards like it was Christmas.

Much to the delight of Steve Evans, thankfully he’s moved on now but it won’t be an easy match by any stretch.

There’s a run of games over the next month that we could really do in picking up points. We’ve faced some tough matches over the last month but with us now taking on sides towards the lower reaches of the league we really need to capitalise.

Put in the effort we did on Tuesday night and I don’t see why we can’t.

Sean Livesey

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