Wigan Athletic chief hints at duo return

Leam Richardson has hinted Lee Evans and Gavin Massey may not be too far away from returning to boost Wigan Athletic’s survival fight.
Lee EvansLee Evans
Lee Evans

The duo are two of only three outfield survivors from last season’s Championship squad – along with Tom Pearce – and had been expected to be influential figures this term in the division below.

However, Wales international Evans has been limited to just a dozen appearances, the most recent of which came on December 5, because of a knee injury.

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Massey has enjoyed even less game-time because of a calf problem, with the last of his 10 appearances coming on November 24.

But after seeing Viv Solomon-Otabor feature at the weekend for the first time since October 24, Richardson is hopeful Wigan’s injury problems are finally showing signs of improvement.

“We’ve missed Viv over the last few months, we know that,” the Latics chief acknowledged.

“And he’s not been the only long-term injury - we’ve had to contend with...you’ve also got Lee Evans and Gavin Massey in that bracket.

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“In any squad it’s tough to lose those types of players, and luckily it looks as though they’ll all be back within a number of weeks.

“It’s great to have Viv back first, it was great to have him involved in the squad again and he’ll be a big influence on what happens between now and the end of the season.”

The return of Evans and Massey would restore some continuity to a side that’s been shuffled more times than a deck of cards on the Las Vegas strip.

It’s an area Richardson feels Latics are playing catch-up with every other club in League One.

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“You look around the division, and a lot of the squads have been around since last summer, June and July,” he added.

“They’re had all that time to get partnerships working, team bonding, whatever you want to call it.

“We just haven’t got the luxury of that, we haven’t got time for it.

“It’s up to the lads – and I’ve told them in no uncertain terms – it’s up to them to impose themselves on each other, and for the experienced lads to drag personalities and fighting qualities out of each other.

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“We’ve now got experience in the squad as well as quality, in my opinion, and we’re still competing despite numbers not being great.

“All we can do is be as honest with each other and ourselves as we can, and represent Wigan as best we can.”

Solomon-Otabor is likely to remain on the bench for Tuesday night’s trip to fellow strugglers Northampton, with Latics reluctant to push him too fast, too soon and risk a setback.

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