'˜Depressed' Chey Dunkley aiming to hit ground running back in Wigan Athletic fold

But the big centre-back, who didn’t miss a single game last season due to injury, is champing at the bit for involvement this weekend against Birmingham City, with Latics trying to improve a recent run of only one win in the last nine games.

“I’ve been back in full training for over a week and I’m very much good to go,” Dunkley told the Wigan Post.

“It’s been so depressing being away from the lads and not being able to.

“But that’s part and parcel of football, and you have to accept it.

“I’ve been so lucky in that I’ve played so many games in my career and I’ve been unavailable for relatively few.

“It’s only been a minor injury, and I’m champing at the bit to go again.”

Dunkley returned to the squad last weekend as an unused substitute at Ipswich, and he is ready if and when boss Paul Cook needs him – especially with 10-goal Birmimngham hotshot Lukas Jutkiewicz in such good form.

“Birmingham have been flying, the lad Jutkiewicz has been scoring so many goals,” Dunkley added.

“It’ll be tough, trying to bounce back from Ipswich.

“But you look at our record at home this year, which we’ve fully deserved with the way we’ve played, and we’ll be looking to keep that going.”