Wigan Athletic were almost on the brink of League One relegation, with administration ongoing and a battle against the drop continuing on.

Fast forward a season and the Latics have new owners and the Championship is on the horizon, with the club wrapping up their 2021/22 campaign with a league title victory and subsequent promotion.

The players are undoubtedly happy to have restored second tier football back to the DW Stadium for at least next season and they are now taking turns in posting various celebratory messages on their social media platforms. One of the latest is Tendayi Darikwa, who has only been with the club for two years but has already played a big part for them.

 

 

Joining when the side were marooned near the bottom of the League One table, he played in 26 league games for them then and helped them to just about steer clear of a drop down to the fourth tier.

This season, the 30-year-old has had a full campaign to shine and play a part for the side and that is exactly what he has done. Playing in a massive 43 of their league games - with 42 starts - he has contributed with two goals and five assists despite playing in their backline and has now helped restore the good times to Wigan.

Now, he has taken to Twitter to post a message upon their title victory, claiming that he is 'proud' of everyone involved with the side and also labelled the Latics as a 'special group.'

Darikwa then is no doubt happy to be part of such a unit - and it appears as though he is already raring to go back in the Championship.

The Verdict

Tendayi Darikwa has been in the Championship before with Nottingham Forest and Burnley, so will be very familiar with the style and standard of football in the second tier - which should help his new team out immensely.

The Latics have benefitted from his reliability in their defence since his move and he is perhaps one of those players that just goes under the radar, as he is on the teamsheet for them most weeks. He's likely to stay on over the summer because of his experience and the knowhow he will provide of the next level and he'll be desperate to get going.

That will be the same with the rest of the current Wigan side. After working so hard to get to the top of the table and seal a promotion this campaign, they'll want a taste of second tier football right now.

They'll have to wait for a little while yet but it's clear that the entire squad are delighted with the work they have done this season and will want to achieve similar feats next season.