DUJON WILL BE READY SOON – COOK
PAUL Cook has assured Wigan Athletic supporters that Dujon Sterling will be back sooner rather than later after putting in the hard yards with the development squad.
The 19-year-old joined the Latics on a season-long loan from Chelsea this summer but has only featured one – in the Carabao Cup defeat to Stoke City.
Instead, he has been working on getting his fitness up to standard and gaining valuable minutes for the development squad - but Cook insists Sterling is not far away from returning.
“Dujon’s still getting there in terms of fitness,” Cook said. “But he is catching up those minutes in the development squad and people will see Dujon in a Wigan shirt soon, that’s for sure.
“These lads don’t just come here to make up the numbers, they’re very good players.”
Players regaining fitness is a key issue for Cook and he revealed he has been impressed with the application of those who have played the under-23 side – most notably Lee Evans.
“One of the problems for lads who are out of the team is they lose valuable minutes playing,” Cook added. “And then they’re actually asked to go back into the team, they look a bit rusty.
“The solution to that is play football, but the reality is, in the modern game, some players think playing in the Development Squad is not cool – that’s the truth of it.
“The pleasing thing for me as a manager is that none of our lads are like that. Every single one of them treats the games with the respect they deserve and get what they can out of them.
“Lee Evans ran over 12km on Monday – that is a frightening stat, absolutely frightening.
“The easy thing for Lee to have said was: ‘I’m not bothered’ but he’s made sure the next time he’s asked to play, he’s ready to play.”