Roberto Martinez had made a fine start to his first season in the Premier League, with the former Swansea boss guiding Wigan to 10th place in the table following the 3-1 victory at Burnley at the weekend.
However, that impressive win against the
Clarets came at a cost after defender
Paul Sharner needed ten stitches above his eye after suffering a deep cut and full back
Maynor Figueroa now faces several weeks on the sidelines after damaging knee ligaments.
Scharner was only able to play at Turf Moor after passing a late fitness test on a hip injury, while
Chris Kirlkand played in goal despite a painful finger injury.
Q: What is the latest on the injury problems?
A: Maynor has a grade two medial ligament problem in his left knee. We will assess it to see how bad it is, but it doesn’t look too good. Normally with this sort of injury you are talking about weeks rather than months, but the signs are not nice. He actually wanted to carry on but the injury was so serious he couldn’t do so.
Q: And what about both Scharner and Kirkland?
A: Paul and Chris both played through the pain barrier, while Hendry Thomas took a nasty knock in the face from the ball in the second half which affected his vision.
It shows that you have character in the squad when you have that attitude – when your team will do anything to win a game. It’s something to be proud of. Paul battled on to make a difference and now has ten stitches above his eye to worry about, but there were no reactions to any of the existing injuries.
Q: And the two goals from Hugo Rodallega at the weekend, you must be delighted with his start to the season?
A: When you speak about the right kind of arrogance in football, he is the typical example. He feels he is going to score in any game. He scored an amazing goal against
Aston Villa at the start of the season and sometimes those are key moments.
He is very arrogant but an example to all the kids. At Wigan we always show them
Rodallega’s attitude towards the game. His overall play is better than some people give him credit for. If he doesn’t score, he still contributes to the team and that is important.
Q: And overall it must have been a pleasing team performance against Burnley?
A: I felt the performance was exceptional from everyone and it would be unfair to single individuals out. The players enjoyed themselves but at the same time they were disciplined in their jobs on the pitch, and that helps you to be a good team.
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