Wigan Athletic contemplating loan star January return

The 21-year-old defender has impressed during the first half of the season while on loan in Scotland with St Johnstone..

But with Tom Pearce looking at a lengthy spell on the sidelines after pulling up lame earlier this month, Maloney admits all options are on the table.

He's desperate not to end Robinson's time in Scotland prematurely for the sake of it, but it does remain a strong possibility.

"I'll definitely be speaking to Gregor and also Luke to see what the situation is," said the Latics boss.

"I've been speaking regularly with Luke, we'll see what he wants to do, as well as St Johnstone, who have changed their manager since he went there, Craig Levein is there now.

"If Pearcey's injury is at the longer end, we'll have to make some kind of decision.

"But I'll wait and see on that, and give Tom a bit of time to see if he can make it back towards the shorter end of what we were told.

"I want to give Pearcey every chance to play as many minutes as he can, but we lost James McClean very late in the summer as well.

"I know Steven Sessegnon can play on both sides, but Tom's injury was tough to take.

"I also don't want to bring Luke back if he's not going to have many minutes immediately.

"I really liked what I saw from Luke in pre-season, and I like that he's gone out to play at a high level, at a very good club.

"He's been doing very well, in the games that I've seen, at left-back, left wing-back and left centre-back.

"The great thing is a lot of the games are on TV, so I watched him against Celtic, where they were very unlucky to lose the game late.

"I've been very pleased with the way he's been playing, and he's someone we're very aware of."

For his part, Robinson is determined to keep his head down and concentrate only on playing well - wherever that may be.

“I don’t look too far ahead,” he said. “You don’t know what is going to happen in a few hours or the next day.

"I’d be open to many things, but ultimately I want to concentrate on staying as consistent as possible.

“I’m just taking each day as it comes. At the minute, I’m happy doing what I’m doing. I’m enjoying it here and the playing is a bonus.”

As Maloney has referenced, Robinson's versatility - he's played in three defensively positions for St Johnstone - makes him a valuable asset.

“When I came through the academy I would always play left-back,” he told the Courier. “It was the same when I broke into the (Wigan) first team.

“Different managers come in with different styles and you need to be versatile, pick up a position quite quickly and apply your attributes.

"Playing centre-back is very different to left-back, even though you are just one position in. At left-back, you can see everything on the pitch. At centre-back, sometimes you are a little blind to players playing on your shoulder."