Malky Mackay has been allowed back in football after being handed the vacant managerial role at Wigan despite the former Cardiff boss being under investigation by the FA after sending a string of racist and sexist texts.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan revealed hours before the announcement that he would interview Mackay after feeling that he deserved a second chance in football and a “fair hearing.”

Whelan knows the appointment will be criticised but called his new manager an “honourable man.”