Blow for Wigan Athletic as injury to Manchester United loanee 'worse than we initially thought'

The on-loan Manchester United forward received a kick to the ankle against Exeter on Saturday, which caused him to be replaced at the beginning of the second period.

Hugill returned to his parent club for assessment, and is now back with Latics as Maloney provided an update on his status.

"He's done one of the ligaments in his ankle, and it's worse than we initially thought it was," said the Latics boss. "He went back to Manchester United on Monday because they have a scanning machine at the training ground, but he's back with us to work on his recovery.

"It'll be a few games we'll be without him, and it's a real shame, because his effort without the ball hasn't gone unnoticed. He's part of the reason we've had those clean sheets in recent weeks...I ask a lot of our attacking players, and that's why I have to rotate them so much."

Dale Taylor came into the starting XI against Peterborough on Tuesday night, with the on-loan Nottingham Forest forward scoring the first two goals - his first in Latics colours - in the convincing 3-0 victory.

"I'm really happy with Dale," said Maloney. "The way he plays, the way he is as a guy, it's easy to forget he's only 20.

"He is a different profile to what we have. He played wide (on loan) at Wycombe, he can play in the number 10 role behind the striker, but I really love him as a number nine.

"His actual performances in the games he's played have been very good, but strikers are obviously going to be judged on goals.

"When they're not scoring, you really notice what they do for the rest of the team, but hopefully this will give him a bit of belief he can be a main player for us.

"It was important that he got off the mark for us, but I actually really liked his performance in the game against Stevenage last week.

"I thought he made a really big impact when he came on against Exeter, but he had a couple of big chances and didn't take them.

"So I'm really happy for him, and it's only really what he deserves, he works so hard without the ball."

Youngster Josh Stones also returned to the bench in midweek, but Taylor looks set to start against Stockport this weekend, as Latics look to sign off in the league before the international break with a sixth game without defeat.

"With the confidence the two goals will have done him, and Joe being injured, Dale will have to go again," added Maloney. "Whether his role will be exactly the same, or he'll play more wide, he's able to do either. We've also got Stonesey, who's pushing for minutes on the pitch, so we're in good shape."