Glenn Whelan on Wigan Athletic's rain-affected trip to Stockport County - 'A little bit worried'
Glenn Whelan admitted he was becoming increasingly 'worried' about player safety as the torrential rain lashed down during Wigan Athletic's Vertu Trophy clash at Stockport County.
With the scores locked at 1-1 just after the hour mark, the heavens opened at Edgeley Park, which quickly made the near side of the pitch - in front of both dug-outs - completely unplayable.
Referee Scott Oldham consulted with both captains before allowing play to go on, although shortly after he took the players off for an initial 15-minute period.
While the County groundstaff furiously worked to clear the surface water, Oldham twice returned to the pitch to assess the situation, before play eventually restarted almost an hour after being halted.
Ironically, the last half hour or so was by far the most open and entertaining part of the game, with substitute Harrison Bettoni seeing a stoppage-time 'winner' controversially disallowed for offside.
Latics went on to lose the penalty shoot-out 6-5, but Whelan was just pleased to get through a difficult night without serious injury.
"Obviously with most of the rain falling on this side of the pitch, we were a little bit worried about what might happen," said the Latics assistant boss, who has led the side in the Vertu Trophy this term.
"The middle of the pitch seemed fine, the ball was bouncing true, but once it got to this side, it was proving more difficult.
"You could see a couple of challenges starting to go in, lads were sliding through, and that's when you start to get a bit worried.
"That might bring yellow and even red cards, as well as injuries, so we thought it was the right decision to bring the players off and try to work on the pitch.
While the official maintained a regular dialogue with both sets of coaching staff during the decision-making process, Whelan says he was happy to leave the final call to the whistle-blower.
"It's totally up to the referee," he said. "I think there was another match official, and someone from the ground, who also had their say.
"But you leave that up to them, and just try to prepare in the changing room for any eventuality."
The miserable weather mirrored Latics' fortunes in a competition that saw them finish bottom of their four-team group, with only one point on the board.
On the flip side, Whelan pointed to the appearance of several Academy products as positives to take from the experience.
"This is what this tournament is about giving the opportunity for young lads to get on to the field," he said.
"Listen, we were very disappointed with the first two games, and I think you could see that in the team selection, with how heavy we went.
"We still managed to get Harrison on the pitch towards the end, and he gave us something to think about again.
"He is a very promising player who we feel is going places, we just need to be careful because he's still a very young lad, and you don't want to give him too much responsibility, too soon."