Wigan Athletic stars ‘knocking on the door’ for recalls against Middlesbrough

The 24-year-old impressed during a half-hour cameo against Ipswich last weekend, after kicking off his comeback from hamstring and calf injuries with a 17-minute run-out against Stoke on February 13.

Powell’s reported no ill-effects, and is pushing for a recall as Latics aim to extend their unbeaten run to five matches.

Left-back Antonee Robinson is also hoping to be involved for the first time since the corresponding fixture at Middlesbrough on November 10 – which Latics lost 2-0 – after knee surgery.

“All the lads are knocking on the door for the weekend,” revealed Latics boss Paul Cook.

“We’ve had a month now where we haven’t lost a game, so we’ve not needed to rush players back.

“Powelly’s one of those pushing for a start and we’ll assess it before the game.”

While Latics are four games unbeaten, three of those were draws.

But Cook rejects the notion the points tally should have been higher than the six on the board.

“Four games unbeaten can be deemed good and bad, depending on results,” he added.

“But I think in this division, if you’ve not lost for four games, you’ve done well.

“Irrespective of anything else, you’ve done well – because there’s no easy games at this level.

“Of course another win or two would have taken us further towards where we want to be.

“But it’s going to be a long season, and if we achieve what we set out to achieve, we’ll all be very happy.”