Caldwell comeback within two weeks
Wigan Athletic captain Gary Caldwell says he hopes to make his comeback from injury within the next two weeks.
Caldwell has not played any part this season for Wigan following hip surgery during the summer. The defender says the rehabilitation program has gone well and he hopes to be playing within 14 days.
Wigan has not had a fantastic start to the Premier League season. The club conceded ten goals in the first two games going down 4-0 at home to Blackpool and 6-0 at home to Chelsea.
Caldwell will add some much needed experience and quality into Wigan's back four. However, it could take him some time to hit form and start playing as effectively as Wigan needs.
Much needed quality
It was clear during Wigan's heavy defeats that the club lacked a leader. The side started to fall apart the second goals started to fly in with regularity. Caldwell has been very influential at the club
since he joined last January and his presence should inspire the rest of Wigan's defensive unit.
Caldwell is dominant in the air against very big attackers. Chelsea did so well at Wigan because the Latics had no one who could challenge the physical presence of Didier Drogba in the Chelsea attack.
His strength allows him to out jump big strikers to reach the ball first.
He is a player that reads the game very well and can restructure the team in a short space of time. He has the ability relay orders all over the pitch and this can make the defence more organised. It should
mean Wigan concedes fewer goals.
He said: "I've been training with the lads for the past week doing football stuff day in and day out.
That's pretty good progress, but I'm still not up to full speed for where I would like to be so I'm probably still a couple of weeks away from actually playing in games.
I'm well ahead of schedule in terms of where I thought I would be at this time."
Time to get going
The problem with any player coming back from injury is that it takes time for that player to hit form. Caldwell will need to work his way back up to match fitness in the
same way as any other player.
The only way he will do this is by playing in a variety of match situations. However, he could be targeted by opposition players as a weak link as soon as he comes back
into the team. He will be much more prone to making mistakes as soon as he starts playing after injury.
He added: "Although I'm back training I'm still a way off being able to play
in games. There's stiffness and the mobility is still not quite there, but still well ahead of schedule and still working hard to try and get back to playing games."
Betting advice
Caldwell will make the Wigan defence much stronger when he completes his comeback from injury. He is a very good leader and defender and should help Wigan to form a much
more solid team. This will give the side a better chance of winning games.
His aerial qualities mean he is a very good asset in attack too. Don't be afraid to have a punt on him scoring in any game because you will get fantastic odds that can
cap other losses.
Wigan is difficult to predict at the moment so the best option is to bet in play. This will allow you to see whether the side will crumble as happened against Blackpool
and Chelsea or whether there will be a repeat of the 1-0 victory away at Tottenham Hotspur.
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