SHAUN MALONEY HAS PROVIDED INJURY UPDATES ON MIDFIELD DUO MATT SMITH AND BABA ADEEKO
- Injury Update on Matt Smith and Baba Adeeko
- Matt Smith has had surgery today which will rule him out of action for around 16 weeks.
- Baba Adeeko will be out of action until around March.
Matt Smith has today had surgery on a hamstring injury and will be out for around 16 weeks manager Shaun Maloney has confirmed.
Maloney has also confirmed that fellow central midfielder Baba Adeeko will be out until March with an injury.
Smith left the field just past the half hour mark in our Boxing Day win over Rotherham United, whilst Adeeko also picked up a hamsting injury against Wrexham.
Speaking to Latics TV after our defeat to Birmingham City, manager Shaun Maloney shed some light on both players.
"Baba Adeeko is going to be [out for] six to eight weeks so we are hoping we will have him back just before March. Possibly the first week of March.
"Matt [Smith] was a similar sort of action, but his injury was a bit more severe. He had surgery this morning so he will be around 16 weeks from now, so I think it will be a massive positive if we see him before the end of the season, but I am not sure how likely that is."
Maloney was also asked if the injuries to his central midfield pair would mean he has to look at reinforcements in the January transfer window.
"I think we have to. Tyrese [Francois] as well will be out for a period of time, longer than Baba's timeline.
"We didn't plan to, but we are going to have to and we might have to make some hard decisions with the squad and we probably need to give Kai Payne more time to develop," he continued.
"To rely on him for the next four months is unfair, so we will probably have to look at the midfield position now."
Watch the full interview on Latics TV.