Wigan Athletic will start next season on -8 points after their owners failed to deposit cash on time to ensure wages could be paid in the future, the EFL have confirmed.

The Latics had initially been given a four-point penalty for next season after failing to pay their players on time on numerous occasions during the 2022/23 campaign, something that nearly ended up causing major unrest in the camp.

The club had until Wednesday to deposit this money with the EFL ordering them to do so, but with the relegated team failing to meet that deadline, they will now start the season eight points adrift of others.

Wigan did try and appeal to the EFL to get more time to find the money required but were unsuccessful in their attempt, resulting in this latest sanction.

The latter have confirmed this punishment this afternoon - and also added that they failed to come to a successful resolution with the club despite engaging in talks over the past 48 hours, with the problem not being resolved as of 9am this morning.

What's the current state of play at Wigan Athletic?

The one positive for Wigan is the fact they can refresh their squad in the summer and reduce their wage bill, something that may be needed if the club wants to remain afloat in the long term.

The departures of Tendayi Darikwa, Steven Caulker, Joe Bennett, Ryan Nyambe, Jordan Cousins and Gwion Edwards should ease pressure on the wage bill, but it remains to be seen who they can recruit in the summer to give themselves the best chance of survival.

With this new four-point penalty set to come into play, survival has to be the key aim now and with this, some experienced players will need to come in to provide leadership in the dressing room to get them out of this mess.

In his quest to build for the long term, Shaun Maloney may want to bring in quite a few young players but this will be an extremely challenging environment for them.

Starting on minus four points wasn't the end of the world for Maloney's men - but eight points is a sizeable deficit to make up.

What next?

This is a horrific situation for the Latics' supporters who deserve much better.

However, when the initial four-point deduction came, you felt the further four-point sanction was going to come sooner rather than later.

It wouldn't be a major surprise if there are massive protests against the owners now - because their supporters have already been hurt by administration and don't want to go down a similar path.

Quite frankly, it's time for their owners to sell up because it's become clear that they can no longer run the club properly.

They may have endured good times last season, but keeping the club stable had to be their main assignment when they came in and they have well and truly failed in that mission.

A couple of late wage payments were forgivable, but this isn't. With the club's future uncertain, you have to feel for the fanbase and those who work at the club.