Wigan Athletic ace undergoes surgery, but still has big part to play - '100 percent we'll look at it'

But Wigan Athletic remain hopeful the on-loan Brentford man will still be able to make his presence felt during the second half of the campaign.

Trevitt has been sidelined since suffering a serious thigh injury against Cardiff City on September 27.

The 22-year-old had returned to his Premier League club as part of his recovery, with the hernia issue then being identified and rectified.

All that means Trevitt remains unavailable to Latics for the time being - but head coach Ryan Lowe is desperate not to close the door on him as far as the rest of the season goes.

"Ryan's just had another operation on a hernia, and we're just waiting for a bit of clarification on what that might look like," reported Lowe.

"I don't know when the cut-off is for a possible recall, but he's obviously not going to be fit for the foreseeable. So I'll leave that to the recruitment team in terms of organising what's going to come next with that.

"But if there's any chance we can have him back at some point, and he could potentially play, then 100 percent we'll look at it...because he's a fantastic footballer.

"If I'm being honest, I think we've really missed having a Ryan Trevitt in the team, because of the way he was playing, we could drop down certain areas.

"We're not looking for any excuses though...we might have been better with him, but we've certainly not been as good as we thought we could have been."

Lowe admits the initial injury was 'bizarre' to comprehend.

"It was such a bizarre injury, the first one...he felt a nerve when he was running...it was just unfortunate," he added.

"We don't know whether it was coming from some sort of damage in his stomach, in terms of a hernia, that was maybe pushing on some nerves or muscles, I don't know.

"But he's in the right place, back at Brentford, in terms of his recovery, and we'll see how that goes."

Lowe, meanwhile, provided an update on Liverpool defender Isaac Mabaya, who returned to Anfield back in August after rupturing his Achilles on his full debut against Notts County in the Carabao Cup - but who is still taking up a loan spot for the time being.

"I'm going to pass the baton on that one, I'm not quite sure where we are with the confirmation of that being cancelled," said Lowe. "Obviously he's out for the season, so I'm sure Liverpool will look after us with that.

"I think there was an agreement in there anyway that it could be cancelled, so we just wish Isaac all the best in terms of his recovery.

"He's probably been a big loss for us, because we would have utilised him in that position, but these things happen.

"So in terms of the loans, I would expect that to get cut short at some point this month, I'm not sure the exact date.

"With Ryan, we'll see if we can do something further down the line, if he's able to play some games for us."