Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has suggested that Charlie Mulgrew could make his move to Wigan Athletic a permanent one during the January transfer window, ahead of Rovers' clash with the Latics.

Mulgrew was an integral part of Mowbray's side over the last two seasons, with the defender helping the club secure promotion to the Championship in the 2017/18 season and also helping them secure their safety last term, but the 33-year-old was allowed to leave Ewood Park on loan to Wigan in the summer as Mowbray looked to strengthen his defence.

The defender has been a key performer for Wigan so far this campaign in his 12 Championship appearances for the club, but Mulgrew has missed the last few games for the Latics having come off injured in their defeat against Luton Town a few weeks ago - and he will again be out for the trip to Blackburn due to a clause in his loan deal preventing him playing against Rovers.

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Speaking in his press conference ahead of Blackburn's meeting with Wigan on Monday night, Mowbray explained his decision to allow Mulgrew to leave on loan in the summer, and hinted that the club will assess his permanent future in January, saying: "I have had some conversations with (Wigan director) Joe Royle about that. But as I said to Joe, I don’t have to make a decision today. He’s on loan until January,” Mowbray said.

"I get on very well with Charlie Mulgrew, his young son is in our academy and he’s been in my office, with all due respect to Charlie who did very well for two years and is a Scotland international, we did lost 69 goals last season.

"I’ll talk to him again in January and see what his thoughts are and how we feel the team is doing.

"We’ll make that call when we need to."

The Verdict

Mulgrew has been an excellent servant for Blackburn during his time at Ewood Park, but having found himself down the pecking order this season he decided to make the loan move to Wigan, and the 33-year-old has managed to provide some extra experience to the Latics' back line during the first half of the campaign.

It seems that Mulgrew would find it very challenging to get himself back into Mowbray's side were he to return to Blackburn following his loan spell, so a permanent move to Wigan looks like the best option for both parties in the January transfer window.

The experienced defender will first be hoping to get himself back to full fitness so that he can help the Latics get back on track, after a ten match winless run has left Paul Cook's side inside the Championship's bottom three heading into their trip to Blackburn.