LIAM MACKEY: The only way is up for Jimmy Mac

It’s an increasingly familiar scenario: another transfer window comes and, once again, James McCarthy finds himself linked in the media with a move one of the big Premier League clubs.

But then another transfer window closes and James McCarthy finds himself still at Wigan Athletic, still scrapping for survival rather than competing for silverware at the other end of the table.

But if he’s feeling at all weary of the fight or envious of those with Champions League aspirations in mind, he does a good or perhaps diplomatic job of accentuating the positive.