Is end to Powercut on horizon for Latics ace Max?

Power will be named in the squad for Wigan’s EFL Cup round two clash, but whether he will play or not remains to be seen.

The 24-year-old revealed last month he had been cut from Cook’s squad and that he wouldn’t feature until the transfer window closed.

Wanting a move to a Championship club, Power has remained on the sidelines since the end of last season, but Cook will name him in tonight’s squad in the interest of all parties.

“Max will just be part of the squad tomorrow night. There comes a point for everyone where you can’t have a stand-off forever,” he said.

“Max trains extremely hard and in my opinion Max is an extremely good lad. Sometimes in football we’re all victims of something.

“At this point it’s important that we and Max integrate back to each other because if Max is to stay a Wigan Athletic player we’d all be delighted, if Max is still to leave before the window we’ll just watch this space.”

Despite revealing Power will be in the matchday squad for tonight’s trip to Villa Park, Cook remained tight-lipped on whether or not this signalled a resolution to the player’s future.

Stopping short of saying any game time would act as a shop window for the midfielder, the manager did say fans could expect some more movement before the deadline a week on Thursday.

“The transfer window’s coming up, I think some of our lads need to go out and play,” he said. “There needs to be movement at the club still.

“We’re in the process of trying to do that and the chairman gives you great backing all the time. Hopefully it can be an exciting week for us. If it is, great, if not, then we’ll get on with what we’ve got, for sure.

“But I think we’d like to think we are going to be active.”

Cook also revealed that Latics are looking for more loan deals for players waiting in the wings.

“We still want to move one or two players around, whether that be out on loan,” he explained.

“There needs to be a pathway for certain younger players. They’re all good players but at the moment they don’t see much light. It’s important I create some light for them.”

Meanwhile, Cook revealed he would be taking a similar approach to tonight’s Cup test as he took for the first round win over Blackpool.

“In my opinion it’s not a weakened team, it’s a freshened up team,” he said.