Wigan Athletic FC

• Nickname:
• Founded:1932
• Manager:Roberto Martinez

• Ground:
• Capacity:NaN

Latics won't gamble on N'Zogbia

19 Mar 2010 - 14:36:00

Click To Enlarge

Former Newcastle United star Charles N'Zogbia looks set to miss this weekend's crunch relegation clash between Wigan Athletic and Burnley.

N'Zogbia is struggling to recover from the hip problem he picked up during the second half of Tuesday's 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa.

Latics boss Roberto Martinez said: "We knew when he got the injury it was bad news, because Charles is not the sort of player who is affected by niggles and small injuries.

"Charles couldn't train again on Thursday and, at the moment, I'd say he is only 50-50. We will give him as much time as he needs to prove his fitness but he needs to be able to be himself and enjoy his football, because otherwise it would be a huge mistake.

"If you take a gamble on someone who is not fully-fit, you are risking losing him for a longer period of time and we need to have our best performers to be available for all eight remaining games of the season.

"Physically you have to be perfect to play in the Premier League. It just doesn't allow to you to be any less than that. Every player needs to be 100 per-cent fit to play. Otherwise it is unfair on the player and unfair on the team."

Former Crystal Palace teenager Victor Moses is the likeliest candidate to replace N'Zogbia.