Wigan Athletic will give on-loan Liverpool man every chance to stay on

The 21-year-old returned to Liverpool in October after a recurrence of a long-standing back issue but - despite fears his campaign might already be over - the door remains tantalisingly open.

Latics accept he may not be able to feature in every game when he does eventually regain full fitness.

But such has been his contributions since first joining on loan in last season's January window, Latics boss Shaun Maloney is desperate to keep all options on the table.

"We might have to wait until Monday evening on that one," said Maloney. "I'm not sure how that looks percentage wise, but we'll give him every possible chance to come back. Liverpool are in regular contact with our medical staff, and I've stayed in contact with Luke...he's a great lad.

"If it happens and he comes back, then great...if not, we'll have to take it from there...but he was a great player for us and hopefully we haven't seen the last of him. That will be their call, they'll make that decision...and in fairness, they've been absolutely brilliant with the whole thing. Whatever they think is right, we'll be fine with the decision."

Maloney also confirmed he wouldn't be seeking a direct replacement for Chambers should he not return to Wigan

"No, we're all good whatever happens," he added. "We've got Robbo back...Jon Mellish can play there...Sess to come back. Because of the timeline, and how long Chambo has been out...and the type of injury he has...he wouldn't be able to play three games in a week anyway.

"The amount of games he'd be able to play with us would be limited, but we all love him here and we're desperate to have him back. But, no, if he didn't come back, we wouldn't be going out to replace him with another player."

There is positive news concerning midfielder Baba Adeeko, who has been out since damaging a hamstring at Wrexham on December 29.

"Baba's started his rehab out on the grass, and we're really hoping he might only be a week or two away," reported Maloney. "That would be a big boost, because we were looking at possibly March when we saw him."

Steven Sessegnon who suffered a knee injury in the home defeat to Birmingham on January 4 is also targeting a return against former club Fulham in the FA Cup on Saturday.

"He might be available for Fulham," added Maloney.