Birmingham City struggles show what Wigan Athletic need from January recruit | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic need new signing Will Goodwin to be a clinical striker

Wigan Athletic have struggled for goals in League One this term and following Saturday afternoon's 3-0 defeat to league leaders Birmingham City, only bottom club Burton Albion and Stevenage have scored fewer than them in the third tier this season.

While Latics supporters wouldn't have expected their side to emerge victorious over the impressive Blues, Saturday's defeat epitomised the lack of attacking prowess Shaun Maloney has among his ranks at times.

Somewhat impressively, the Tics took more than double the amount of shots than that of their league-leading opponents on Saturday afternoon, with 15 efforts compared to Blues' seven.

However, Wigan's attempts were in vain, as they yielded just three shots on target from a total of 15, whereas Chris Davies' clinical side hit five shots on target.

Shaun Maloney will hope Will Goodwin addition can bolster Latics attack

Ahead of the January window, it was evident that the Latics had to prioritise the signing of a new forward, as they are one of League One's lowest-scoring teams.

Initially, the Brick Community Stadium faithful may have been puzzled when their club decided to sell forward Josh Stones to National League leaders York City, a story initially broken by Football League World on Friday.

Stones was the only out-and-out forward in Maloney's squad on a permanent basis, as usual starter Dale Taylor is on loan from Nottingham Forest, while former back-up choice Joe Hugill was on loan from Manchester United prior to making his return to Old Trafford on Wednesday.

But the Greater Manchester club quickly set about finding their Stones replacement, in the form of another loan signing, as they brought in the addition of Will Goodwin from Championship club Oxford United on Sunday – another move first reported by FLW.

While Goodwin is not a permanent acquisition, he is a player the Latics will hope can add a clinical edge to their attack, after he scored six goals in just 16 appearances for eventually relegated Cheltenham Town in League One last campaign.

Upon his arrival at the Kassam Stadium last January, though, the 22-year-old struggled to break into an Oxford side that went on to win promotion to the second tier via last season's play-off final victory over Bolton Wanderers.

Goodwin has subsequently endured a lack of game time in the Championship, due to the presence of former Cardiff City man Mark Harris, and talented youngster Dane Scarlett, who is on loan at the U's from Tottenham Hotspur.

But his impressive numbers for Cheltenham suggest that he may be a stronger asset for the Latics than that of Taylor, who has notched five goals in 20 league outings, and Hugill, who scored just three goals in 13 third tier appearances during his time with the club.

While Taylor deserves credit for the fact that he has also created four assists, perhaps the physical presence of Goodwin will yield more goals for Maloney and co.

Will Goodwin acquisition could be more important for Latics in the event of Thelo Aasgaard departure

The man on loan from Oxford could prove to be vital for the Tics as it is, amid the relative lack of goals from Taylor, but he could prove to be all the more important if attacking midfielder Thelo Aasgaard leaves the club this month.

The Latics academy graduate has been his side's top scorer in League One this term, with six goals in 23 appearances, and has acted as a talisman for Maloney's men.

But his goal-scoring efforts from midfield have not gone unnoticed, as Alan Nixon revealed in December that he has attracted the attention of Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest.

Furthermore, as revealed by Football League World last month, Championship side Blackburn Rovers also remained keen on the Norway youth international's services.

If Aasgaard does depart the Brick Community Stadium this month, then the Latics will require even more of a clinical edge from Goodwin, the sort of which that was definitely missing against Birmingham last Saturday.