Manager reflects on 2-1 victory over Charlton Athletic.

Leam Richardson | “The character and response were fantastic”
Wigan Athletic manager on his side’s 2-1 victory over Charlton Athletic in Sky Bet League One
Richardson: “I felt the fans gave us a real big lift during the game today and we’ll need them more than ever going into the midweeks and the fixture list coming. We need this place bouncing and rocking because the lads need all of the energy they can get.”

Wigan Athletic manager Leam Richardson felt his side’s character was crucial as Latics came from behind to defeat Charlton Athletic 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.

Reflecting post-match with Latics TV, Richardson praised his side’s efforts as they got back to winning ways in League One.

“It was hard-fought, challenging in spells, but I thought we carried the momentum for most of the afternoon,” Richardson explained.

“The start of the game was obviously disappointing, but I thought the character and the response from the lads were fantastic.

“Charlton are obviously going to offer a real threat and keep you honest all afternoon, they’ve been going well themselves.

“I thought on the balance of play, we deserved the win today.

“The lads were on a fantastic run, they then lost their first away league game since the opening day of the season at Sheffield Wednesday, and the lads take full credit for that because of the hard work that they put in.

“Eleven players never win a league, never win a cup, it’s about the squad and we’ll need every player in our squad going forwards because we have a lot of healthy challenges going forwards as well, starting Tuesday.”

Stephen Humphrys came off the bench to get the decisive goal for Richardson’s side and Latics’ manager praised the forward’s impact.

“We know how important our squad is and it was great to have Will [Keane] back after a short time out,” he added.

“Stephen Humphrys came off the bench and we always say to the subs, either maintain or lift the levels, and thankfully Stephen has got the goal to win us the game today.

“From the outset, Josh Magennis, Will and Callum Lang led the line tirelessly all afternoon and Stephen gets the credit for their hard work. With his attributes, Stephen took the tempo of the game up a level as well.”

Latics will reset quickly for the visit of Crewe Alexandra to the DW Stadium on Tuesday evening in one of Richardson’s side’s games in hand on their fellow League One promotion contenders.

“On Tuesday we didn’t get too low, tonight we won’t get too high – we’ll enjoy the win for an hour or so and then our attention will go on to Crewe,” Richardson continued.

“I felt the fans gave us a real big lift during the game today and we’ll need them more than ever going into the midweeks and the fixture list coming. We need this place bouncing and rocking because the lads need all of the energy they can get.”

Leam Richardson | “The character and response were fantastic”