Trio depart Wigan Athletic - what now for 'other four'?

They also have the small matter of having had SEVEN first-team regulars being out of contract before next weekend – whose departure would leave the side in even more dire straits.

Loan men Curtis Tilt (Rotherham), Matty Palmer (Swindon) and Darnell Johnson (Leicester) have already returned to their parent clubs after their deals expired on January 4.

Dan Gardner’s short-term deal also expired on the same date, although it's understood he has remained with the squad for now.

Viv Solomon-Otabor is in the same boat, although he is currently out injured and won't be back for a few weeks yet.

Latics are also hopeful of holding on to Will Keane, who becomes a free agent this weekend, and will surely have interested suitors elsewhere after five goals in his last nine appearances.

Tom James is also due back with parent club Hibernian on January 17 - the day after Latics' next game, a short trip to Rochdale.

“There’s obviously a few players whose loans are up this week, which we need to look at,” recognised administrator Paul Stanley.

“Some of them have gone back because their clubs want them back.

“And we’re trying to work out with Leam (Richardson) and Gregor which ones we want to keep a hold of, and which players we need to try to bring in.

“That will all depend on positions, and budget and the rest of it. We’ve still got restrictions about how many players we can have in the squad.

“So it’s a matter of working out which of them want to re-sign, which of them can re-sign, which of them we want to re-sign.

“It’s always a three-way thing, and we need to work out where the gaps in the squad will be.”