Wigan Athletic chief hails bonus of starlet 'as talented as any of the young players we have'

The 20-year-old forward hadn't featured in the first-team set-up for more than two months, but came off the bench for the last half-an-hour against Nottingham Forest Under-21s in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

Maloney had previously confirmed 'personal non-footballing reasons' was the reason for Sze's absence, but the Latics boss could not hide his delight at seeing him back on the field.

"Amazing to see him back," admitted the Scot. "We weren't sure it was going to happen a couple of days before, but I'm really pleased to see him back.

"I know games like Tuesday can be hard to watch, the longer it's 0-0...but I was just delighted to see Chris back out there on the field.

"He's had a really difficult couple of months...not physically, nothing like that, no muscle injuries..it's been off the pitch problems.

"We're doing everything we can to support him, including the medical team...and I would also say the ownership team has made a really big push to support him, and his mum as well.

"He's really talented, Chris...and he was in the team at the start of the season. What I saw from him, and he wasn't at his best, possibly because of the off-field stuff, which I didn't know at the time…

"But what I saw from him in midweek was probably more than in all of the games at the start of the season. If Chris is in a really good place, then he is as talented as any of the young players we have...we just have to stay patient with him."

Sze also backed up from the first-team game by starting for the Under-21s the following day at Christopher Park in their 8-4 defeat to Preston North End, for whom Montenegro international Milutin Osmajic scored five goals.

The Liverpudlian has made 37 appearances for Latics – 27 of which have come off the bench – since making his debut against Sunderland in the Carabao Cup in September 2021.