Wigan Athletic boss Steve Bruce is delighted with the form of January signing Ben Watson.

On the former Crystal Palace midfielder, Bruce told the Wigan Evening Post: "Ben has been terrific considering he hadn't trained or played for seven weeks when he first arrived.

"He's caught up very quickly with his fitness which is credit to him, he's worked very hard and done everything we have asked of him.

"Ben has made a significant contribution, he scored when we won at Sunderland and then got the winner against Hull.

"He was so unlucky not to score with the free-kick last week, when he hit it I was convinced he had scored.

"The lad is still only 23 and we've got some terrific young players here, that's a route I've been aiming to go down.

"We've got some experienced players too - you need an experienced keeper and experience at the back.

"But a lot of the lads have a lot of football left in them. I've tried to make the squad as young and healthy as possible.

"These younger lads, Watson, Hugo Rodallega, Charles N'Zogbia, can only get better with time and that's exciting for us."