ACE CALLUM EYES UP GREAT ESCAPE
CALLUM Lang was a teenager in Wigan’s academy when the Latics won the FA Cup eight years ago – and the striker believes a successful League One great escape would be an achievement to rival the club’s finest hour.
The 22-year-old has seized his opportunity since being recalled from a loan spell at Motherwell in January and the winner against Sunderland in midweek took his tally to eight in 18 games going into yesterday’s clash with Crewe.
Lang’s goals and a successful takeover by Bahraini-funded group Phoenix 2021 Limited last month have helped breathe fresh life into a campaign which began with key players sold following a slide into administration and included a two-month winless spell between October and December amid off-field uncertainty.
But with a core of young players now stronger for the experience, the Latics have improved in recent months and Lang believes the side are peaking at the right time as they look to avoid dropping into the fourth tier for the first time since 1997.
“When I came back in January, I didn’t think about it as fighting at the bottom of the league,” he said. “I just wanted to give everything for this shirt and hope we came good by the end of the season.
“I’m loving being a part of it and it would be the best achievement of my career so far to stay up with this club.
“For the club, I’m not sure where it would rank next to winning leagues and the FA Cup but it would definitely be up there, with everything surrounding it and all the young lads coming in.
“It has been a tough time but survival would be a top achievement everyone could look back and be proud of.
“Everyone’s been buzzing since the takeover - not just players, everyone at the club and the fans as well.
“How happy they are rubs off on us as players and there’s a nice feeling around the place. But we are focusing on making sure we are a League One club next season.”
Since making his Wigan debut in the EFL Cup at the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Lang has had to wait patiently for his chance at the DW Stadium.
Loan spells at Morecambe, Oldham, Shrewsbury and Motherwell have aided his development and he was ready to hit the ground running in the Latics’ hour of need.
“It can be tough going on lots of loans but I wouldn’t swap it for anything and I’m glad with how it’s worked out,” he said.
Experience
“I have a lot of experience for someone my age and in that first season at Morecambe I loved playing every week and wanted more of it.
“I’ve always had that drive to make the Wigan first team and being given the number nine shirt meant a lot. That felt a long way away when I joined so to be scoring goals in that shirt has given me a lot of confidence.”
Should the club succeed in their act of escapology, meanwhile, Lang thinks a particularly bleak evening shortly after his return could be reflected on in a different light.
“We got beat 5-0 by Blackpool (in January) and sat down as a team, had a chat about how it wasn’t good enough and where we needed to improve,” he said.
“Since then, we know what we need from one another and we’ve stuck at it. We’re a tightknit group and that game might have been a turning point. It hit us hard but we’ve reacted well since – now we just need to keep pushing on.”