Liverpool legend opens up on turmoil of watching Wigan Athletic starlet suffer

Carragher junior, who came through the ranks at Latics, spent the second half of the 2023-24 campaign on loan in Scotland with Inverness Caledonian Thistle, where he earned rave reviews.

Latics boss Shaun Maloney has already confirmed the 21-year-old will be regarded as a member of the senior squad next term, putting pressure on the likes of Charlie Hughes and Jason Kerr for a first-team spot.

All of that, however, is light years away from the struggles he's had during the last few years, with injury repeatedly preventing him from reaching his top form.

And speaking on 'The Overlap' with Ian Wright and Peter Schmeichel, Carragher senior - a Liverpool legend who who avoided serious injury during his own career spanning two decades - went into detail about the trials and tribulations his son has come through to get where he is today.

"I would play through things, that was just the way I was brought up," said Jamie. "Like I'd dismiss people, and I couldn't understand things. And then my own son went through it…

"He had a knee problem on the back of Covid, and after Covid came in, no-one could go to the training ground.

"So I told him he'd have to do a bit of training on his own, because no-one knew when they'd be able to go back.

"In one-on-one coaching, his knee blows up, but he couldn't even go to the hospital, because everything was closed.

"You couldn't see a physio, you couldn’t get an operation, nothing.

"He got back, but his knee kept swelling up, and it went on for a couple of years.

"He'd been playing on with the anti-inflammatories, he went out on loan in on-league with Oldham, and he got another knock on the knee.

"So we said 'right let's get the operation', he has it, and then I'm thinking 'okay, he'll be back now'.

"I can see his face, we're thinking finally after two years, he's been to see the best person in London, and it's great.

"At the start of pre-season, I go on holiday, and he's training, and as soon as he phones me...because I knew it was a big day for him, his first day back with the group…

"I get the phone call, and I know already...in my stomach...and I booked a flight to come home that night, straight away.

"The holiday's finished for me. I've got to get home. He can't be at home alone with this.

"Seeing him and what we went through last summer to try and get to the bottom of it, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

James, who joined Latics at the age of 15 after leaving Liverpool, has a 12 months remaining on the two-year contract he signed last summer.

He wore the captain’s armband as Latics won the Under-18 Professional Development League in the 2020–21 season.