'Tough few weeks' behind us now, insists Wigan Athletic starlet

After losing their opening three matches of the campaign - the Carabao Cup tie at Fleetwood and League One fixtures against Ipswich and Gillingham - Latics made it third time lucky in the EFL Trophy.

Despite going into half-time a goal down, SIX second-half goals - including a brace from Jolley, opening his senior account - turned the game on its head.

And it sends Latics into this weekend's trip to Portsmouth in good spirits.

“It has been a tough few weeks for the lads after a few not great results," said Jolley.

"But we are always working hard and have been trying our best to get wins.

"So it was good tonight to get a win and hopefully that continues on Saturday.”

The 19-year-old has been a prolific goal-getter for Latics at junior level, and was delighted to get off the mark in first-team football against his hometown club.

“It was good to get my first goals in a Wigan shirt," he acknowledged. “It's something I wanted to do from the start.

"There was a chance in the first-half where I could have and I maybe should have passed it, but I knew more chances would come and the staff said that at half-time.

“The first one was a great ball from Kal (Naismith) and I was there to finish it.

"The second one was a striker’s goal because you have to anticipate and that’s what I did.

“I think in the second-half we came out knowing we needed to put in a performance.

"It was good to get a goal in an all-round good team performance, with six goals in the second-half."