Nick Powell (l): In action for Wigan

The 19-year-old scored his third goal in two Europa League matches in the 1-1 draw with Rubin Kazan which keeps the Latics on course for the knock-out stage.

Powell, who has been farmed out to the Championship club to gain experience by new Red Devils boss David Moyes, admits he has had a mixed season so far but retains a longer-term view.

"My overall assessment of my time with Wigan would be average so far - I've had a couple of good games, a couple of bad ones and a couple that have been all right," he said.

"I'm still getting my fitness back and I need to get my sharpness.

"I've come on loan to get games and I'm happy to be doing that and contributing to the team.

"I've managed to get my goals in Europe rather than the league and I think I need to start scoring in the league because we are not getting the points we need.

"But it (Europe) helps me especially considering United are in Europe.

"Hopefully I will get back to United playing in Europe. Everyone wants to play in Europe, whether it's the Europa League or Champions League."

While Wigan are still unbeaten in their maiden European campaign, their league season has been inconsistent and they currently sit 13th, 14 points off the top and eight outside the play-off places.

Their involvement in continental competition means they have two matches in hand of all-but-one of the teams above them and manager Owen Coyle is confident fighting on two fronts will not be a hindrance.

"It is a difficult one because we have been in so many competitions already and we play catch-up in the league," he said.

"But our aim is the same: we want to be there challenging at the end of the season to get back into the Premier League, which we will be as I've seen nothing to suggest we won't be, and we also want to qualify from the Europa League group.

"We have not been blessed with luck with the injury of Shaun Maloney (ruled out for several months with a hip problem) and the sale of James McCarthy 10 minutes before the transfer deadline.

"At our level it is very difficult to replace the likes of Maloney and McCarthy but we will certainly look to do that in January when the window opens and we can spend that money (£13million from McCarthy's sale to Everton)."