STEVE Bruce wants to see Wigan Athletic in mid-table by Christmas.

Bruce is expecting Wigan to kick on from a battling win at Portsmouth last weekend with victory over Stoke City at home on Saturday.

Wigan officials were greatly impressed with the way Bruce took the squad into camp straight after the midweek defeat by Fulham.

Wigan stayed at Hampton, Bruce cracked the whip and demanded greater passion and more steel from his players.

Jason Koumas, who was recalled to the team at Portsmouth, says the team benefited enormously from the bond of being in camp on the road.

Koumas said: "The two games leading up to the Portsmouth game were absolute murder.

"We all just wanted to get back out onto the pitch after losing at Fulham to put both a bad result and performance behind us.

"The manager was on at us all the time.

"We worked extremely hard both on and off the training pitch.

"A lot of things were said and rightly so. We were superbly prepared and the win at Portsmouth was an important one."

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