Wigan Athletic reeling after being handed Matt Smith injury setback

The 23-year-old midfielder - a summer signing from Arsenal, where he came through the ranks - has already been absent from the first-team fold for a couple of months.

His last outing was at Bristol Rovers, after which a hernia problem was identified that required surgery.

It had been hoped Smith would have been well on the road to recovery by now.

But manager Shaun Maloney has revealed the player - one of the stand-out performers in the opening month of the campaign - has received a huge blow to his comeback hopes.

"We're not quite sure with Matt at the moment, but he has hit a little bit of a plateau in his rehab," said the Latics boss.

"But I think at minimum we'll be looking at another six to eight weeks before we see him again.

"And that's really disappointing news for Matt, because we really thought he was getting towards the end of the rehab stage.

"It's disappointing for us as well, because I'm a really big fan of his.

"Technically, on the ball, he was brilliant at the beginning of the season, so that's really disappointing for everyone.”

Smith was one of the first signings through the door in the summer as part of the rebuild at the DW Stadium.

However, after hitting the ground running, he has been restricted to only nine appearances this term.