Brown warns of Catt fight
Michael Brown has played down talk of a move to Stoke City and warned new arrival Lee Cattermole he faces a fight to get into the side.
Midfield enforcer Brown, 31, is being linked with a switch to the newly promoted Potters following Steve Bruce landing his fifth summer signing.
But the former Fulham ace, who has two years to run on his deal at the JJB, wants to stay put.
Brown told the Observer: "I got a text message over the weekend from a mate saying they'd read something about Stoke.
"It was the first I knew about it. I enjoy it here and I'm looking forward to the new season.
"We're bringing in Lee and he's another good midfielder. I don't know much about him, but I know he's a whole-hearted player who likes to put his foot in.
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"Of course I welcome the competition – that's natural at any Premier League club.
"It's normal for a club to have four central midfield players.
"I got a good partnership going with Wilson last season. But no one will be guaranteed a start this season.
"It keeps you on your toes knowing you've got to play well to stay in the side."
Latics were today (Tuesday) tieing up the move for Middlesbrough's Cattermole, who is coming in for 3.5m. He was at Christopher Park yesterday undergoing a medical before thrashing out personal terms.
He joins Daniel de Ridder, Olivier Kapo, Amr Zaki and Maynor Figueroa as Bruce's other summer recruits.
Cattermole, who has four caps for England U21s, had two years to run on his deal at the Riverside Stadium.
Click next page for more ...But he was desperate to leave the North East and take up a new challenge at Latics.
He made 69 appearances for Boro and scored three times.
Brown, who joined the club for 2m last summer, only missed five games under the new boss from December until the end of the campaign.
"I enjoyed playing under the new gaffer when he came in," said Brown. "I needed to get a decent run of games under my belt and it helped when we started
winning games.
"I was pleased with how I finished the season and now I'm looking to start this one well."
Brown returned home from Latics' Austrian training camp in Bad Bleiberg having claimed his first goal for the club in the first run-out against FC St Veit.
"It was a token goal," he said. "I want to score more goals and hopefully I can this season when it matters in the league.
"We had a good time in Austria. Obviously we were miles away from home and it's hard being away from your family for 10 days.
"But every professional player has to do a pre-season. We aren't fans of it, but you need a base to get yourself right.
"We've been doing two three-hour sessions a day and it's been pretty gruelling.
"When we were in Austria we had one session, had ice baths and some lunch and then had to wait four or five hours before the next session."
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Weather for Wigan
Thursday 02 September 2010
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 22 C
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Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
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