Antolin Alcaraz is hoping he can get some momentum going in the final part of the season after a stop-start second year with Wigan.
Defender hoping injury nightmare is behind him
Antolin Alcaraz is hoping he can get some momentum going in the final part of the season after a stop-start second year with Wigan.
The 29-year-old missed the start of the season after Paraguay reached the final of the Copa America and the centre-back was given an extended break.
But on his return to the Wigan side, he picked up a thigh injury which ruled him out to mid-October, while a ban picked up against Wolves halted his season further, as have a cracked rib and a torn groin muscle.
So far he has made just 13 Latics appearances this season, but has set his sights on a strong end to the season.
He told the
Wigan Evening Post: "It's been a strange year for me - I've had various problems and it's hard to get something going when you are in and out of the team.
"I've struggled to put three games together before dropping out for whatever reason, and I'm aware the team and the fans have not seen the best of me this year.
"In an ideal world you want to be playing every game, because you can start to build up partnerships with other players as well.
"Hopefully, though, all that is behind me now and I can put in a good run of games between now and the end of the season."
Relegation
The Paraguayan also believes that Wigan can beat the drop this season, despite currently being bottom of the table.
He added: "There are many games left and many points to play for, and it's so tight at the bottom that no-one knows for sure how many points it's going to take to stay up.
"It's going to be difficult, but we'll be doing everything we can to stay in the Premier League.
"We needed those three points at Bolton, because some of the other teams at the bottom managed to win so we had to keep up.
"Winning is a great habit to get in to, and in some ways it's a shame we've had a week off and couldn't build on that straight away.
"All we can do is focus on the next game, though, and building on the confidence when we play Aston Villa on Saturday."
