Joe Adams? The 2 Wigan Athletic players that need to prove a point in pre-season or risk 2024/25 axe | OneFootball

As Wigan Athletic strive for a 2024/25 promotion push, FLW looks at two players who have a point to prove in pre-season

Wigan Athletic's pre-season is well underway, and the Latics enjoyed spending the first week of July in Hungary at a hot weather training camp.

In 2023-24, manager Shaun Maloney steered the Latics to a comfortable top-half finish despite facing the challenges of beginning the season with an eight-point deduction and a transfer embargo, which meant that the Greater Manchester club were reliant on youth academy graduates, free agent signings and players brought to the club by previous bosses.

As the 2024/25 season is fast approaching, the Latics will have their sights on a serious play-off pursuit, while club owner Mike Danson has been supportive of Maloney's hopes for a promotion push, bringing signings such as Premier League duo Michael Olakigbe and Calvin Ramsay to the club, who will both spend the next campaign on loan at the Brick Community Stadium.

But while Wigan have lofty ambitions, positions in the side's first-team set up next season may be hard to come by, and these two players have a point to prove in pre-season or may risk being loaned out:

Joe Adams

Latics academy product Joe Adams will want to follow in the footsteps of the likes of fellow central midfielders Scott Smith and Baba Adeeko, who have successfully made the step up from Wigan's youth set-up into the first team.

But somewhat ironically, the presence of Adeeko and Smith could be the obstacle which prevents the 20-year-old from making his mark at senior level with the Latics just yet.

Furthermore, Matt Smith, who Maloney's men signed on a free transfer from Arsenal, is an absolutely class act, and someone who the Greater Manchester side would not drop from the team in favour of Adams.

But last campaign, the young midfielder made a good impression at League Two Morecambe, during a successful loan spell with the Shrimps, and unless he has a particularly impressive pre-season, a further loan move could be the best option for a player who has not yet made a senior appearance at the Brick Community Stadium.

Chris Sze

Adams' fellow academy graduate Chris Sze also has a point to prove during pre-season, despite making 24 appearances in all competitions last campaign.

Just two of Sze's 19 League One outings came from the starting 11, and he managed just one goal, which came during a 3-2 defeat to Port Vale back in December.

The 20-year-old is still yet to establish whether his best position is up front, out wide or in an attacking midfield role supporting the main striker.

Sze scored one goal in just four EFL Trophy appearances, while his most fruitful moments in Latics colours have come from an attacking midfield role.

But this is somewhat problematic for the youngster, who would have a very tough job on his hands competing for the number 10 role ahead of Thelo Aasgaard, who has become a key player for Maloney.

Since graduating from the Latics academy in 2020 amid the club's financial difficulties, the Norway youth international has been renowned among the Brick Community Stadium faithful for scoring screamers from outside the box, but last campaign he discovered his poacher-like tendencies.

The fact that Aasgaard displayed the form of his career to date in 2023/24 is not good news for Sze who, like Adams, could find first team football easier to come by if he is loaned elsewhere, barring the event of an exceptional pre-season.