Warriors full back Tendayi Darikwa’s shoulder injury has left Wigan Athletic coach Leam Richardson worried, fearing his skipper could be on the sidelines for long.
Darikwa who is a key player in the Wigan squad suffered a shoulder injury when his side was thrashed 5-1 by Burnley over the weekend (Saturday) at the DW Stadium.
The Zimbabwean international injured his left arm and was subbed off in the 60th minute after receiving a lengthy treatment before being helped off the pitch.
In an interview with the club’s media, the worried gaffer Richardson said: “Obviously it didn’t look good, it looks like he’s dislocated his shoulder.
“Knowing Tendayi, he’ll do everything he can to make sure he’s fit and available as quickly as possible.
“At the moment, though, it’s too early to diagnose what the problem is and how long he’ll be out.”
The match saw Wigan suffering their first defeat of the season while Burnley recorded their first victory this campaign.
Speaking after the defeat, Richardson said: “Firstly congratulations to Burnley for the result and the victory. If you want to dissect the game, which we all like to do, we’re obviously disappointed with the scoreline. We’ll collectively take it on the chin and I’ll take responsibility for the last two goals.
“You have a choice at 3-1 down with 10 minutes left of keeping it at 3-1 or trying to force a positive result, which leaves you wide open to exactly that. We probably shaded the first half if I’m being truthful, albeit we weren’t happy with the way we started.
“We then came out strongly for the second half and created a big chance, which we didn’t take. And to then concede the third goal straight away – and an offside goal at that, a simple decision – is disappointing. I don’t want to take anything away from the opposition because they beat us well.”
Reacting to their big win his counterpart, former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany said: “There was a team out there who fought for every ball. Ten difficult minutes in the first half, we battled through it.”
He added: “And in the second half, we did everything we needed to do in the future against teams who are chasing the game. We had threat in behind, patience with the ball, and when we had the opportunity we broke the lines and attacked in numbers.
“It was a good lesson, a really good lesson. We saw every side of the game that we can be facing in the Championship, with different qualities.
“When you have a team with so many new players, every step of the way is filled with lessons. Sometimes you get away with it, you win and learn and go another day, and last time we didn’t get away with it. But we didn’t have much to get away with.
“We improved and I just hope now it will gel a little bit to be ready for the next challenges,” Kompany said:
