When David Wright swapped Crewe for Wigan in the summer, he did so because he felt the Latics were heading for the Premiership. Not a bad choice then as his new club swept to the top of the Coca Cola Championship and enjoyed a 17-match run, which unfortunately came to an end last Saturday as Plymouth ended the last unbeaten run in English football with a 2-0 win at the JJB Stadium. The Wigan defender spoke to Brian Beard about the season thus far and his attempts to stay in the side.
Q:WHAT HAPPENED ON SATURDAY TO END THAT FANTASTIC RUN?
A:Basically, Plymouth turned up, played 4-5-1 and played really well. We were a little off the boil and got punished, and that sums it up.
Q:YOU HAD A GREAT RUN, BUT AS ARSENAL ALSO DISCOVERED, THEY DO HAVE TO COME TO AN END SOME TIME?
A:Absolutely, the end had to come sometime and I also think that playing away from home may turn out to be a bit easier in the sense that teams will play in their own way against us, whereas they come to our place and basically shut up shop. Burnley did it against us, Brighton did it against us and now Plymouth, so home games are going to require us to be very patient in trying to break teams down.
Q:IT WAS INTERESTING TO SEE PAUL JEWELL SAY THAT NOW PERHAPS PEOPLE WILL STOP TALKING FOOLISHLY ABOUT WIGAN WALKING AWAY WITH THE CHAMPIONSHIP?
A:That's common sense, which is what you always get from the manager. Even around the area people are talking about us winning the championship but we've only just got into November, there's six months left and it's so early in the season. So many things could change and we could get a lot of injuries or suffer a bad run. Obviously we want to be up there but there is far too much time to go to start talking about the championship.
Q:YOU WERE IN THE TEAM AT THE START OF THE CAMPAIGN, THEN YOU WERE REPLACED BY NICKY EADEN AND NOW YOU ARE BACK IN REPLACING NICKY. TOPSY-TURVY OR ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE WAY YOU HAVE SETTLED IN?
A:Well, I'm not happy that I lost my place, I don't think anyone would be, but I am happy that I have settled in. It was the gaffer's decision, he wanted to put Nicky in, he came in and did very well, unfortunately for Nicky he got injured and that gave me my chance again. Every time you get a chance you have to take it. If I'm in I have to play well enough to keep him out and likewise if he regains his place but we'll keep each other on our toes and healthy competition for places is good for the squad.
Q:YOUR SQUAD SEEMS TO HAVE GOOD QUALITY IN ALL AREAS OF THE TEAM?
A:We haven't got the biggest squad but within the make-up of the squad we've got some very good players in all positions to cover when injuries happen. It was Per Frandsen and Jimmy Bullard playing centre midfield, then Per was injured and Alan Mahon came in, scored goals and did well, and that's the kind of quality we have in the squad. As long as we don't go down with six or seven injuries we'll be fine.
Q:WHAT ARE THE REALISTICTARGETS FOR WIGAN?
A:I think at the beginning of the season you set your own targets and everyone obviously wants automatic promotion and that would be great but I believe it's completely up to us. We have the quality on the squad and if we play as we can we should be there or thereabouts at the end of the season.
Q:AND JUST ONE FINAL QUESTION - HAVE YOU BEEN ANYWHERE NEAR SCORING A GOAL?
A:Not really. When you have Jason Roberts and Nathan Ellington and Lee McCullough weighing in with goals I reckon I am at the back of the queue at the moment in the goalscoring department.
