Let's paint the scene, shall we?

You've made a start with your Fantasy Football team, the first few game weeks haven't proven too great, have they? Your team is lacking in points, your mates at work have all had a great start, 100+ points in the bag, lovely stuff - but not you. No, you've had a torrid start, red cards for Andreas Christensen, John Egan, and Kieran Gibbs, an Erik Pieters own goal, a Mo Salah stalemate - thing's just aren't looking too positive at the moment, are they?

Well, just your luck that FPL gives you some great little tricks up your sleeves for the season, one of those being the wildcard.

The use of the wildcard allows the user to make an unlimited amount of transfers for a game week, without incurring any point penalties or deductions for doing so - one week of unlimited transfers to completely revamp your squad, just to give you that little points boost you so desperately need to reduce the gap between you and your mates in the mini-league. The use of a wildcard can be done twice per season - during the first half of the season between GW1 and 29th December, and once again for the remainder of the season.

Now you're probably thinking, when should I use it then? A good question, as there are a few loopholes in the Premier League calendar that allows you to get the most out of your use of a wildcard. You may feel you need to use your wildcard due to injuries across your squad, which is a great idea, as you can make quick transfers for a game week at no extra cost, in time for your injured squad to become fit again. The best time to use it, however, is during a double game week.

A double game week is where two or more teams face two separate fixtures in a single game week, giving you double the number of potential points on your wildcarded players. These double game weeks often occur due to clashes with games in other competitions, and it can prove wise to hold onto your wildcard until one may occur.

It's simple really, and it is a great little tool to give you that needed points boost for your team - especially during the aforementioned double game weeks. It is also key to remember that these transfers don't have to be made at once, and can be done throughout the week before the next game week deadline, as long as you're sticking to the budget, and make sure you use the wildcard right at the start of each game week, to give yourself enough time to implement any needed changes.

So there you have it, the wildcard - a simple yet effective tool that can be very useful in FPL, so use it wisely, and good luck for the rest of the season!