Mat Sadler 'hurting' at his loss of form

But the 30-year-old has urged fans to bear with him as he strives to rediscover his best performances.

Fans have criticised Sadler for his displays since returning to the Greenhous Meadow and he's sweating on his place for tomorrow's trip to Wigan, after being recalled for the FA Cup win at Gainsborough.

Nat Knight-Percival is back from suspension and boss Micky Mellon also has in-form Junior Brown, who has replaced Sadler in recent games.

But the former Birmingham man opened his heart to confess his form hasn't been good enough.

Sadler said: "I know I haven't been playing as well as I should have.

"I haven't seen anything because social media isn't really me, but I'm vastly experienced – I'm come in for stick before and I've been praised before.

"No one more than me wants to play well. I can assure anyone who wants to give me stick I'm the one hurting the most if I make a bad decision or whatever.

"Bear with me – I'm the one who wants to play well more than anyone."

Sadler has given away penalties against Millwall and Crystal Palace and admits his loss of form is a mystery.

He said: "I'm used to being very consistent – that's how I play my game. But, for whatever reason, it had just been off at the start of this season.

"I want to put it right because people had great faith in bringing me here and I want to play well.

"I need to play better, cut out the mistakes, and fingers crossed, I get back in the team and I do just that."

Town are looking to build on their FA Cup win at Gainsborough as they prepare to travel to big-spending Wigan, who have lost just twice in 16 games.

Sadler insists Town have no fear, adding: "Wigan are in League One, just the same as Wolves were a couple of years ago .

"They're League One clubs when they're in this division, so we've got nothing to fear going there. We'll be going to Wigan to try to get something."