Wigan Athletic are thought to be rather unhappy with Preston North End’s repeated raids on them this summer.
The Latics have been through plenty of late having been relegated and hit with a points deduction.
Wigan are preparing for life back in League One and Shaun Maloney needs a fast start to claw back those eight lost points.
PNE aren’t exactly helping the Wigan cause right now having raided them four times this summer.
Striker Will Keane traded Wigan for North End in July, returning to Deepdale on a two-year contract.
PNE then landed Wigan development coach Peter Murphy, who is taking a key role in helping North End’s youngsters around the first-team setup.
Another Wigan coach headed to Deepdale this summer as Rob Kelly reunited with Ryan Lowe having worked together at Bury.
North End made it four on Wednesday as defender Jack Whatmough joined North End just days after terminating his Wigan contract.
The repeated late payment of wages last season meant Whatmough was allowed to rip up his contract, and he has already joined North End.
Whatmough’s move hasn’t gone down too well with Wigan fans and it seems the frustration is matched inside the DW Stadium.
Wigan Today reporter Paul Kendrick has highlighted on Twitter that PNE’s moves this summer have ‘not gone down well’ inside the club.
North End snapping up the Euxton training ground is highlighted too, with PNE repeatedly raiding Wigan for players, staff and even facilities in recent times.
We can hardly blame Wigan for being a little frustrated at losing so many people to North End; it may not be a fierce derby but there is still some level of rivalry there.
PNE have been opportunistic and all of these moves make perfect sense for Lowe, either landing key coaches or solid Championship players at knockdown prices.
Maybe this situation will only ramp up the rivalry between the clubs but if PNE need a favour from Wigan any time soon, there may be a fairly blunt answer.