Wigan winger winning race to be fit

Wigan Athletics flying Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia could be back in the side to face Birmingham on Saturday following recovery from a reaction to surgery on his knee

International Duty

Valencia, who was plagued by injury last season, had a knee operation a few weeks ago and hes been making steady progress since

However the wingman returned from international duty with his knee swollen and tender, Ecuador had a match against Brazil in which Valencia did not feature but it appears that the travelling may have caused the tenderness and swelling.

Latics boss Chris Hutchings told the Manchester Evening News that Valencia had a good work out and now its just a case of wait and see if there is any reaction

Quality

Valencias direct pacey runs have certainly been missing these past few games and he creates havoc in the opposition half when he is on the ball, playing Scharner in his position is not an option but that is what Hutch has been doing

Once the quality returns to the Latics starting eleven surely the fortunes of the team must turn, with Landzaat coming back last week and now likely Melchiot and Valencia set to return this weekend the missing link will be Heskey and the sooner he is back the better

Work rate

Bent and Aghahowa don`t put the fear into anyone and both appear to play with a total lack of confidence, the early season form of strike partnership Heskey and Sibierski was very good and puts the current duo to shame as far as work rate is concerned

Maybe the return of Valencia can spark a bit of something out of the current forward line, we could do with three points on Saturday because we have some very tough games ahead

Do you feel Valencia will make a difference?

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