Titus Bramble is delighted he swapped Newcastle United for Wigan Athletic.

"Coming to Wigan has been a blessing in disguise for me," Bramble told The Sun. "It might have been a step down in terms of the size of the club but, as a team, it has been a real move forward.

"They are very much like Ipswich. Visiting teams think 'little old Wigan', see our 15,000 crowds and think it's going to be easy. And it isn't."

Bramble is quick to credit boss Steve Bruce for his renaissance, even if they did not get off to the best of starts.

He recalled: "Thirty seconds into his first game as manager, I made a terrible backpass against Manchester City that cost us a goal. But Steve sat me down and said 'You're a really good defender, I know what you can do, now show everyone else'.

"Maybe some of my past managers didn't have that belief in me. But when Steve took over at Wigan I thought it could be good for me.

"Now I'm playing every week and that has definitely helped my consistency. It's been the best season of my career."