Manager reflects on important point at Portman Road as Latics strengthen grip on top spot in Sky Bet League One.

Leam Richardson | “We worked hard to get that result tonight”
Wigan Athletic manager reflects on his side’s 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town
Richardson: “We set up to come and win; the fans in the top corner were fantastic and the energy that comes from them onto the pitch is great. I thought every player that stepped on the pitch was excellent.”

Wigan Athletic manager Leam Richardson praised his side’s character and work rate as Latics earned a 2-2 draw at Ipswich Town on Tuesday night.

Latics went ahead through a Will Keane header but Conor Chaplin and former Latics skipper Samy Morsy gave the hosts the lead in the second-half.

Keane’s second against his former club earned Latics a share of the spoils and Richardson was full of plaudits for his players desire to take something back to Wigan with them.

“I thought the work ethic was fantastic,” Richardson explained. “It was an intense game and our distances were a little bit off in periods but I thought we still looked a threat going forward.

“The character, work rate [was there] and I thought we worked hard enough to get that result tonight.

“We set up to come and win; the fans in the top corner were fantastic and the energy that comes from them onto the pitch is great.

“I thought every player that stepped on the pitch was excellent.”

And Richardson continued that it wasn’t lost on the players and staff how much of an effort the 402 travelling supporters had made to get to Portman Road tonight.

“Our lads are quite senior and they don’t take anything for granted,” he added. “Tendayi [Darikwa] and Max [Power] are obviously the captain and vice captain and they mention it all the time because it’s obviously not cheap, it’s a rearranged fixture on a Tuesday night and the lads are very aware of that and hopefully we represent the shirt with that work ethic and energy we put on the pitch.

“We probably weren’t as fluent as we have been this year in possession but I thought we worked as hard as anybody out of possession and now and again you can try and control games out of possession because you have to respect the team in front of you. I thought in transition and on the counter we always looked a threat.”

Richardson made a double change at 2-1 down as Gwion Edwards and Tom Pearce replaced Jason Kerr and Kell Watts.

An aggressive change, Richardson’s thinking?

“Let’s have a go!,” he said. “Every point is precious at this time of year and we wanted to try and be a bit more functional in the wide areas, and we wanted to put them on the back foot a little bit - I felt with the changes we did that.

“We have got two lads with Joe Bennett and Tendayi Darikwa on the outside who are comfortable stepping in, and I felt the two lads that came off worked excellently hard.”

Will Keane headed to the top of the Sky Bet League One scoring charts with his double, his 22^nd and 23^rd league goals of the campaign.

On his frontman, Richardson finished:

“If Keano keeps going in them areas, he will keep getting them goals and them chances - people will get confident enough to put it in them areas because they know you will be there. When you have the quality and the calmness that Keano has got, he will continue to score important goals for us between now and the end of the season.”

Leam Richardson | “We worked hard to get that result tonight”