Wigan will hope that they have nurtured a new star in the making after they put Fleetwood to bed, continuing their strong home form.
Jordan Flores, 19, scored the opening goal on Saturday on his first start for the club as Latics beat the Cod Army 2-1 at the DW and climbed up into play-off contention.
The youngster, a local boy and season ticket holder who previously had made only a handful of substitute appearances in the first team, finally made his long awaited full debut.
And he was clearly delighted at the contribution he was able to make.
“It was an unbelievable feeling; it is what I have dreamt of as a kid and it was good to get the goal in a win today,” Flores told the club website. “The ball just dropped for me and I have just hit it, it was a great feeling.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Flores though and he admitted to being nervous ahead of his full league debut in front of supporters he has sat alongside with his family for a long time.
“I’m always nervous. I want to do Wigan Athletic, my family and all the fans proud,” he added. “The fans are great. They are always behind the team and you can’t get a better feeling than that.”
Now the youngster, who hails from nearby Aspull hopes to keep hold of his starting place and fire his side higher up the table if they can improve their away form to add to their good start at home.
“I’ve just got to keep going in training,” Flores continued. “I played against Bury and I’ve just waited for my chance again, I got it against Fleetwood and I think I took it and did well.”
Manager Gary Caldwell was happy with the way his side played for the most part but again felt that work needs to be done to put teams to bed earlier and prevent making life difficult for themselves.
“I don’t think we can take away from the first 55 minutes to an hour – I thought we were excellent.
“We passed the ball very well, gave them lots of problems in midfield with our shape and controlled the game.
“But there’s frustration because at 2-0 we thought it could be three or four and we allowed them back into the game. We’ve got resilience amongst the squad and they hung on today and that’s pleasing.”
Wigan face a tricky trip to Oldham on Saturday and new caretaker manager David Dunn.
Image courtesy of Wigan Athletic via YouTube, with thanks.
