Wigan Athletic boss drops strong hint on absent loan duo - 'They're not injured'
Ryan Lowe's first two decisions of the January transfer window could well be regarding a couple of departures from his Wigan Athletic squad.
Midfielder Ollie Cooper and forward Paul Mullin were both conspicuous by their absence from the 18 that faced Burton Albion on Monday night.
Cooper's lack of involvement was especially noticeable, given Latics were without the suspended Jensen Weir and Matt Smith for the crucial clash.
Head coach Lowe opted instead to field 19-year-old Tobias Brenan, who hadn't featured in the league since mid-August.
With speculation already rife that Cooper and Mullin will be returning to their loan clubs - Swansea City and Wrexham respectively - midway through their agreements, Lowe did little to dispel that notion.
Speaking to Wigan Today, he said: "There's nothing to say at the moment. When there is, we will give you that.
"I know people will draw their own conclusions, but all that is in-house stuff, what we're talking about.
"Ollie was with us tonight (at Burton), and unfortunate to miss out. But we'll have a discussion about that situation when the New Year comes, and they're both with us until told otherwise.
"There will be a point when loans can be looked at, in terms of dates, but we'll discuss that when the time is right."
Tellingly, he added: "They're not injured."
Lowe was also asked for an update with the hours counting down to what he hopes will be a pivotal transfer window for the club.
"It's as big as we want to go," he said. "The aim heading into 2026 is to get more wins on the board, and more points on the board.
"Everyone wants first and foremost to get to 50 points...then it's 60 points...then 70 being hit ..and see where it takes you. We're at the halfway point now, and I feel we could have a few more points than we currently have.
"If we can manage to pick up those extra points in the second half of the season, you sort of look at it and think: What's next? We've just got to keep going, keep building, and keep believing."
When asked about the difficulty of juggling off-field recruitment and on-field results during January, he added: "Me and Joe Riley (chief scout) have a good relationship.
"He's played for me, we've played together, and he knows what I want, the type of players I want.
"We've got the recruitment analyst at the training ground every day, discussing players in the offices...Gregor (Rioch, sporting director) is speaking to agents, CEOs and sporting directors and so forth.
"We're on the front foot with it...if something lands on the first of January, then it'll definitely be a good start to 2026!
"I can't promise anything in football, as you well know, but we are on with it, we are on the front foot, we have targets...but so will a lot of other clubs.
"I've got to sell them what I believe we are going to do for them, in terms of getting them to help us get to where we both want to get to."