Charlie Mulgrew has revealed that he knew the time was right for him to leave Blackburn Rovers when the club accepted an enquiry about his availability on the final day of the summer transfer window.

That Deadline Day agreement saw Mulgrew complete an eleventh-hour move to Rovers' Championship rivals Wigan Athletic, and it seems that Blackburn's willingness to let him leave had an influence on the Scot's decision to make the short move across Lancashire, despite his role as the club's captain.

Speaking to the Scottish press during his time on international duty, Mulgrew was quoted by The Scottish Sun as saying: “It all just happened last minute. It came out of the blue and it was a shock.

“I spoke to the manager, Tony Mowbray, we had a discussion and then that afternoon Wigan came in.

“The fact that it was accepted told me it was probably for the best that I went and gave my all for Wigan."

Mulgrew played the full 90 minutes of Blackburn's 2-1 defeat to Charlton Athletic on the opening day of the current Championship season, but had been forced to settle for a place on the bench for the last five games of the previous campaign, as Republic of Ireland duo Darragh Lenihan and Derrick Williams established a solid partnership in the centre of Rovers' backline.

Since moving to Wigan, Mulgrew has featured twice in all competitions for Paul Cook's side, with the goalless draw against Barnsley on Saturday marking his first league appearance for his new club.

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The Latics, who sit 22nd in the early Championship standings, are next in action a week on Saturday, when they travel to the KCOM Stadium to face Hull City.

The Verdict

I can understand Mulgrew's reasoning here.

At 33-years-old Mulgrew is probably approaching the latter stages of his career, so he is probably going to want to play as much football as possible while he still can, even if that has meant making an unexpected move to one of his previous club's rivals.

Having made just two appearances for Wigan in all competitions since his move, however, you imagine Mulgrew will be keen to push for a more regular starting spot in Paul Cook's side once he returns from Scotland duty.

Given he looked fairly solid in that stalemate with Barnsley, while also posing a threat with his delivery from set-pieces, I do think he has a good case to make for another appearance at Hull in just over a week's time.