A 2-0 win at Aston Villa, courtesy of an own goal from Aaron Hughes and a stunning strike from Alan Mahon, cemented the Latics’ place in the top six.

But midfielder Kavanagh and the other players are keeping their feet firmly on the ground and they are aware of a run of fixtures starting next month of Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United.

Kavanagh said: “The key to it all is starting well like Bolton did in their first season a while back. If you can do that, it’s a platform to build on.

“When that happens confidence grows and the club and the fans start to get belief but we are not going to get carried away with this situation.

“Yes, it is going well for us and people are patting us on the back and saying nice things. But in a couple of months they could be having a right go at us because we have gone into a slump.

“Even now if it was said to us ‘you’re guaranteed 17th place, would you take it?’ then we would take it. A lot of people think that is quite defeatist but it isn’t. It is a realistic fact.

“We are nowhere near being safe but we are on a good run and long may it continue. At the moment things are going well but our target is still 17th place and anything above that will be a massive bonus.

“There is an opportunity there for us to crack on but we have got a very tough spell coming up from mid November when we have Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Man Utd.”

Kavanagh, 31, is enjoying his first lengthy spell of life in the Premiership after being close to tears when sold against his wishes by Cardiff in March to ease a financial crisis.

But it is a move that has worked in the favour of the Dublin-born player who, against Villa, was a major influence in the centre of the park.

He said: “I didn’t want to leave Cardiff. I was upset when I left to be honest. We hadn’t been paid and the club needed to get some money in pretty quickly. If they did then they would be able to pay the wages and the club would stay afloat.

“I was the one who was sacrificed. I loved it down there. I had four great years. The fans were fantastic with me. It is a family club and very much part of the community.

“But I went to Wigan with 11 to 12 games to go of last season and knew I wasn’t going to get a better opportunity to get into the Premiership and I’m loving it here.”

Villa were left to rue squandering several gilt-edged first-half chances as they failed to build on the euphoria and momentum of the derby win over Birmingham.

Villa manager David O’Leary admitted: “We haven’t got momentum going. We played well against Tottenham a few weeks back and then went into reverse again.

“We had a good win last week at Birmingham and then lose at home to Wigan. We have to gather up the three points if we want to move ahead and we haven’t done that this season.

“But you have to get a settled side and get all your best players playing and we haven’t been able to do that. We have too many important players missing.

“We are expecting better all over the pitch. We are expecting better in terms of putting the ball in the net and we are expecting to defend better.”

Striker Kevin Phillips said: “We have only got ourselves to blame. I thought in the first half we dominated the game. We had three or four great chances and, if we had taken them, the game would have been well and truly dead.

“Wigan showed what they have shown all season, their fighting qualities. We conceded an own goal at a time which knocked us a little bit and we never managed to recover.”

REFEREE’S REPORT: Richard Beeby – The official had a quiet afternoon which was mirrored by the fact he did not brandish a single yellow card – although if they were awarded for poor finishing he would have filled his note-book with names from both sides.

FUSSY FACTOR: The only major decision he had to make was after Villa defender Aaron Hughes sliced a clearance which struck his hand but Beeby was right to wave play on and awarding a spot-kick would have been harsh.