Thursday 20 November 2014 17:14, UK
Roger Espinoza has dismissed former Wigan manager Uwe Rosler's claims that he is homesick, revealing he only began to explore a route out of the DW Stadium because the German was not considering him.
After playing in this summer's World Cup with Honduras, Espinoza was limited to just 12 minutes of Sky Bet Championship football until October 21, when he was welcomed back in from the cold.
Rosler revealed his absence was due to the 28-year-old's insistence that he should return to the United States, where he played before moving to England.
However, Espinoza has dispelled that notion and stressed that he only looked elsewhere because he did not feel part of Rosler's plans.
Rosler was sacked last Thursday and replaced by Malky Mackay this week, and Espinoza has broken his silence on the matter in an interview with Wigan's official matchday programme this weekend.
"I'm definitely not homesick, that's the truth," he said.
"I've never been homesick, I've been away from home since I was 17 years old; I don't even know where is home for me now because I've been to so many places.
"I never said anything in retaliation out of respect to the club and to the players that are here but if the club didn't need me; I had to look somewhere else."
Espinoza was brought to the club by Roberto Martinez in January 2013 from Sporting Kansas City and has since gone on to work under Owen Coyle and Rosler.
He explained: "It's been tough because when I arrived at the club I had a manager who wanted me and since I've had a couple of different managers and there are a lot of changes with new people coming into the team.
"It's been kind of hard to get a run going and this last few weeks is one of my best runs in the team and hopefully I can keep that going.
"The plan is to stay here - players don't like to move around because it's a crazy process - if the opportunity to stay is there, then of course I'd like to.
"Remember, I came from a club that also really likes me too and when Roberto gave me the opportunity to come here, I decided to take that opportunity.
"When I haven't been playing and the manager didn't count me or see me as someone who could help the team then I had to look somewhere else, right?"
