Wigan Athletic: Dave Whelan targets Premier League top 10

Chairman Dave Whelan believes Wigan are capable of finishing in the top half of the Premier League this season.

The Latics, who have never finished above 10th position in the top flight, are 14th in the table after 11 games.

Whelan told BBC Radio Manchester: "We've played very well in all of the matches. We've played better than our results show but we're doing all right.

"We're on 11 points and we were nowhere near that last year. We want to finish in the top half and I think we will."

Wigan had collected only five points at the same stage last season and had lost eight consecutive Premier League matches.

But a fine run of form towards the end of the campaign lifted them to a final position of 15th, their highest finish in three years under Roberto Martinez.

Whelan collected a lifetime achievement prize at the North West Football Awards on Monday, in recognition of his achievements with Wigan Athletic.

He has invested millions into the club, delivering on his promise of delivering Premier League football to the town for the first time, as well as funding the construction of the DW Stadium, which opened in 1999.

The 75-year-old continued: "I've enjoyed every single moment of it and I still sometimes wake up and think 'have we really done this?'

"We've come from the old Fourth Division and got into the Premier League, and we've been there now for eight seasons. It's been a fairy tale.

"When I bought Wigan Athletic, everybody asked what my ambition was. I said 'to get to the Premier League'. We've made it and we've made our mark in the Premier League."