“Personally, I owe it to people who have lost their jobs as they’ve helped me get to where I am today. It spurs me on to play every game and fight for every point for us.”

Merrie was in the starting XI for Latics’ win at Portsmouth and our home win over Doncaster Rovers, whilst he was a late substitute in the win at Sunderland.

And the midfielder says Latics are more than capable of competing with the sides at the top of the table.

“We’ve had a few highs this season to be fair,” Merrie continued. “We’ve beaten some massive teams – Sunderland and Portsmouth away, and Doncaster at home have been massive results so hopefully at the weekend we can do that as well.”

Merrie has come in for praise from Latics supporters for his whole-hearted performances this season and he says whilst he’s not active on social media, he has heard about a lot of the messages of praise that have come his way.

“A lot of people have told me about the fans praising me,” Merrie said. “I don’t really do social media but I’m very grateful to the fans speaking positively about me because it gives me a lot of confidence to keep playing and hopefully progress. I know I have a lot more to give and I’m improving every game and training sessions.

“What the fans say on social media gives everyone a lift and I hope everyone can back each other up. I’m buzzing to be playing but I know I can give much more.”

Merrie is not the only academy graduate shining in Latics’ first team, with Kyle Joseph, Thelo Aasgaard, Callum Lang and Adam Long just a few to have featured regularly this season.

Merrie’s close friend Lang has scored three goals since his return from a loan spell at Motherwell and the midfielder says the Latics frontman is an important player for his side, evidenced when he was rested as a precautionary measure on Wednesday night.

“Me and Callum Lang are very close and grew up together since being in the U14s so we’ve been here together all the way through,” Merrie said. “We’re very close but also with the other lads as well – Thelo [Aasgaard], Luke Robinson and Adam Long – there’s loads of them. We’re all privileged to play alongside each other.

“Callum [Lang] is a big miss for us when he doesn’t play; his work rate is unbelievable for the team, his goals are massive and then his character too within the dressing room so he’s a massive plus side to have for us.

“It’s up to us as players to step up and get the results now because there are plenty more games and I’m sure we’ll get some good results.”

Chris Merrie | “It’s up to us as players to step up”