Wigan Athletic have confirmed that midfielder Lee Evans is available for selection in Saturday’s game against Luton Town.

The Wales international has not made an appearance for the Latics since his late cameo in the 1-0 win over Birmingham at the beginning of October and hasn’t started a game for Wigan since late September.

It has been a calf injury that has kept him out recently and has seen him miss nine of Wigan’s 19 league games this season. In that time, Paul Cook’s side have slipped down the table and currently find themselves in the relegation zone after a run of seven games without a victory.

Their last outing was another disappointing one as they threw away a 1-0 lead to Reading late on to lose 3-1, thanks to a George Puscas hat-trick.

Speaking to the club’s official site ahead of the Luton test, Cook had this to say on Evans: “The injuries are what they are; we are delighted to have Lee Evans back with us tomorrow. Lee has had a full week of training with us and that is great news for us.”

With Cook’s Wigan side making the trip to Kenilworth Road to face a fellow struggling side, he will be able to turn to the 25-year-old for the first time since September to start a league game.

On the flip side, the manager also confirmed that there were players unavailable for selection, where he added: “Danny Fox is doing well, Tom Pearce played in the development squad this week and Joe Williams is two or three weeks in to his injury so hopefully that will clear up in the next week or two.

“They are key players to us and that can only help but there are no excuses in terms of injuries that we will be offering.”

The Verdict

This is a huge boost for Paul Cook and Wigan Athletic heading into the festive period as they will need as much strength-in-depth as possible and Evans definitely adds quality to that midfield. 

It is yet to be seen whether he will start tomorrow at Kenilworth Road but Cook’s indication is that he is fully fit and ready to start for the Latics.