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Wigan Athletic boss Shaun Maloney has heaped praise on Manchester United loanee Joe Hugill, amidst the rich vein of form he’s currently in.
Hugill has scored an impressive three goals in his last two matches for Wigan.
Last week, the striker converted from the spot-kick as his side slipped to a 2-1 loss at the hands of Morecambe in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
He followed that up with a sensational first-half brace over the weekend as his side cruised to a 4-0 win over Bristol Rovers.
Asked whether something has “clicked” for Hugill, Maloney said, “No. He’s already shown me what he can do. He’s been in those positions all season, our problem has been that final pass, that final cross, into him.”
“Joe’s been in there, and he should have had probably double figures chances…but he hasn’t been given those chances. At Bristol, those balls fell in the right areas for him, and you saw what happens.”
“It’s up to us to keep finding him in those positions.”
Maloney further explained that some of the criticism Hugill was subjected to before his goal spurt was undeserved and uncalled for.
“I read something online written by someone that wasn’t particularly positive about Joe’s start here. It suggested he was struggling here, but he was never struggling.”
“He was actually learning about the positions I’m wanting him to get into, and he was managing to do that. We just weren’t finding him in the first few games, but he was still absolutely fantastic without the ball, and his positioning was really good.”
Maloney added, “So I’ve never been anything other than really pleased with him, because I would never judge a player by their goals. I’ll judge him on the amount of chances he takes when we manage to find him, and he’s staying to find the back of the net now.”
The Latics gaffer refused to put a ceiling on how high Hugill can go.
However, he noted that the Carrington academy graduate still has room for improvement in diversifying his goalscoring techniques.
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