Martinez defends Catt exit

13 August 2009 16:59
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez felt it was best for the club to sell Lee Cattermole to Sunderland. Sunderland signed Cattermole earlier this week after Wigan reluctantly accepted an offer for the combative midfielder. Martinez was sad to see the England Under 21 international leave, but felt it was in the best interests of everyone he moved on as he only wants players committed to the cause to stay at the DW Stadium. "Well you don't want to lose players, that is first and foremost and Lee has been a very important player for Wigan Athletic. "But obviously on the other side you don't want to keep players who are not fully committed, they don't want be here, so it is always about finding the right decision for the football club. "We had a valuation of the player and now we can be stable, we can really focus, we can take pride in our standards on a daily basis and having characters that want to win games for Wigan Athletic and that's vital. "Overall the timing is probably not ideal, but the solution is what Wigan Athletic needed." Martinez is not surprised that Cattermole has left to link up again with Steve Bruce, who brought him to Wigan last summer from Middlesbrough, at Sunderland. "There are signs that could show you he was going to go that way," added Martinez. "I spoke to Lee and we had close relationship during pre-season and I could see how he was feeling. "I am concerned about players that are desperate to play for Wigan Athletic and they have been working extremely hard on setting standards. "It is all good for the media to talk about players here or who have left, but the priority now and the concern is the players has been setting standards on a daily basis and they are excited about the start of the season."

Source: SKY_Sports