Exclusive: England Hopeful Tickle Thriving on Pressure to Succeed With Wigan

England Under-21 shot-stopper Sam Tickle hopes his heroics for club side Wigan Athletic can lead to more international recognition.

Tickle has been one of the Latics top performers for the past two seasons as the club look to earn a way back to the Championship.

The former Premier League outfit suffered relegation to the third tier in the 2022-23 season.

But academy graduate Tickle hopes to play a key role in helping the Greater Manchester club bring the good times back again.

“I thrive on pressure, when the pressure’s on I seem to rise to it,” Tickle told SportsBoom.com. 

“Playing in front of 30,000 to 40,000 people, well it’s do-or-die to be honest."

“Thankfully I really enjoy the pressure, I enjoy the big occasions. I really look forward to the big games, I always have."

“Getting picked for England was a brilliant feeling, I want more of that. It was a great feeling making my debut."

In getting selected for England last season, Tickle became the Latics’ first homegrown player to receive a call-up for England’s Under-21 side since former Wigan and Everton defender Leighton Baines, who was selected to represent his country at youth level in 2006.

“It was strange at first being in that environment with big players like Harvey Elliott and other big names, they’re players you usually just see on TV,” admitted Tickle.

“But once you get to know them all you realise they’re all great lads."

 “I just remember the standard of training being brilliant, I came off the pitch buzzing. It was another level, I wanted more."

 “I knew I was good enough to be there at my first England training session, but at the same I was just looking around and felt starstruck.”

RELEASED...AND THEN RE-SIGNED

Tickle started his career at Wigan before being surprisingly released, only to be resigned again after one former coach said he’d never make it as a keeper.

It’s little surprise Tickle was hungry to prove that person wrong – and even happily accepted an apology when he proved just how good he is.

“To be fair I got an apology from him, we both had a laugh about it,” reflected Tickle, who has kept 12 clean sheets in 22 matches this season for his club."

“I was pretty pleased with how I performed last season, it was a big season for me."

“This season I’ve just wanted to keep that momentum going. This season has been tough, but I think the league is a lot stronger than it was last season."

“Our budget is a lot lower than teams like Wycombe and Birmingham, but we’ve got the quality there to be successful."

“The more experienced teams know how to manager games and make they sneak a win, which is something we can learn from."

“We just need to get on a good run, once we started scoring a few goals then I’m sure we’ll be alright."

“If we can get three or four wins then we’d be bouncing right up the table."

“I always just try and do my job by keeping the ball out of the net, that gives the strikers the chance to finish games for us.”

Manchester United and Arsenal were just two of the clubs rumoured to be interesting in securing Tickle’s signature, but he signed a new deal with Wigan, a club he is confident will provide the platform for him to one day play in the Premier League.

“I love it here, the club have shown a lot of faith in me. It’s nice to repay the club with good performances, especially the fans."

“I’d love to get promoted with Wigan and one day play in the Premier League, that’s the dream!”.