Wigan Athletic: This Steven Sessegnon attribute will be Shaun Maloney's biggest miss - View | OneFootball

Wigan Athletic and Shaun Maloney will miss Steven Sessegnon's versatility while he is injured

Wigan Athletic have endured a disappointing start to the new EFL season and have won just one game out of six across all competitions.

While the Latics' EFL Cup exit in the first round via a penalty shootout defeat to Barnsley was undoubtedly painful, Shaun Maloney's men will be most concerned by the fact that they have lost three of their four League One outings so far, while their solitary victory of the campaign, a 1-0 win over Crawley Town in the third tier, came as a result of an own goal.

The poor form displayed by the Latics so far this season was epitomised by their 2-1 defeat, on home soil, in the EFL Trophy against Morecambe, who currently sit bottom of League Two, with five defeats in as many fourth tier games.

Matters became worse still for the Brick Community Stadium outfit, when Maloney revealed to Wigan Today that Steven Sessegnon, who had to leave the field of play due to injury during a recent loss at Birmingham City, will be out for four to six weeks.

Latics will miss Sessegnon's versatility

The immediate consequence of Sessegnon's injury was that, due to the fact Maloney had already used all of his substitutes, the Latics had to play on at St Andrew's with just ten men on the field of play late on in the second half, and eventually suffered a stoppage-time defeat.

But while Sessegnon is one of Wigan's most technically gifted players, it is his versatility that the Greater Manchester side will miss the most, as he is able to play in either full-back position, at wing-back, and even in central midfield when called upon.

Due to the fact that the Latics have a lack of depth among their ranks, which boast just 16 senior players as per the 22-man squad Maloney submitted to the EFL, the versatility of the former Charlton Athletic man is of great importance to his side.

The Latics are already struggling this campaign, and the prospect of having to deal without such a key player for a duration of up to six weeks is not a healthy one to say the least.

Furthermore, it is not just Sessegnon's on-field influence Maloney and co will miss during his absence, as he is a key man in the dressing room, and was recently made a part of the club's leadership group, as reported by Wigan Today.

Latics fans will be anxious to see an upturn in form

The Brick Community stadium were delighted by last season's top-half finish, which came despite the fact that the club began the 2023/24 campaign with an eight point deduction, and were wholly reliant upon free agent signings, loanees, youth academy products and players signed by previous managers due to a transfer embargo.

Now that their club is free from such restrictions, many Latics fans had hoped for a more promising transfer window, but witnessed a summer in which their side did not sign a senior striker despite the exits of Josh Magennis, Charlie Wyke and Stephen Humphrys.

While there is still plenty of time for Maloney and co to turn things around, many supporters will feel as though the current poor performances on the field are due to an underwhelming transfer window, despite some promising signings such as Dion Rankine, brought to the club on a permanent deal from Chelsea.

The Latics faithful will hope that their club can begin to pick up more victories sooner rather than later, in order to avoid a potentially challenging campaign at the wrong end of the table, while Sessegnon's recent injury will make a change in fortune all the more difficult to come by.