The Carling Cup gave beleaguered Wigan boss Roberto Martinez respite from his side’s EPL struggles.

The Latics are one place and point above the EPL relegation zone after Saturday’s defeat to Fulham at Craven Cottage - they visit the team immediately below them, Blackburn, this Saturday.

And midfielder James McCarthy faces at least two months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on the ankle injury he suffered in a tackle with Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba last month.

 

But a Carling Cup quarter-final tie at Arsenal awaits them on November 30th after Wigan overcame Martinez’s previous club Swansea at the DW Stadium last week.

Martinez complained that his well-beaten side were “very flat” at the Cottage. But he put much of that down to their exertions against Swansea.

After the Fulham defeat he said: “I felt Tuesday’s game took a lot out of us, we had a lot of knocks and niggles.”

But he had been understandably more upbeat after Argentine striker Mauro Boselli’s first Latics goal and Ben Watson’s late penalty took his side through to the last eight.

He described the £6m signing as “a really confident finisher” and “a real asset,” and promised that Wigan fans “will see the best of him very soon.”

Martinez was also looking for positives after McCarthy’s ankle operation. He said the 19-year-old, who he described as “sensational” would “come back stronger and, physically, probably in a better position than before.”

Defender Emmerson Boyce is expected back after his hamstring injury within 10 days.