Martinez talks up N'Zogbia role

N'Zogbia: Badly advised

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Roberto Martinez believes unsettled midfielder Charles N'Zogbia still has an important role to play at Wigan.

N'Zogbia handed in a transfer request on the cusp of the new Premier League season as Birmingham looked to capture the winger's services.

The deal broke down over the Frenchman's personal terms, meaning he remains at the DW Stadium until the January transfer window at least.

And manager Martinez says the 24-year-old must perform to the best of his abilities in the meantime to get back on good terms with supporters and team-mates alike.

But the Spaniard refused to criticise the player for publicly seeking an exit - insisting his midfielder was ill-advised on his attempt to leave Lancashire.

Martinez told the Wigan Evening Post: "It's going to go down to the day to day work. If Charles behaves in the right manner, I think fans will understand that he has been probably badly advised.

Victim

"He's a human being and has been a victim of the transfer window at the wrong time."

The 37-year-old added: "He's an extremely talented player and now it's up to him to show the other team-mates how much he wants to give something to the team to win football games.

"In my eyes he's a Wigan Athletic player at least until the next window and a really important player for ourselves. He got into the French national team because of his performances with Wigan Athletic."

The former Latics midfielder also apportioned some blame on the situation to the format of the transfer window and Premier League rules, which state a final 25-man squad must be listed two games into the season.

Martinez explained: "Domestically you need to announce your squad before the first league game. Then the players settle and they focus. It hasn't happened at Wigan Athletic.

"It doesn't help when you go into games and headlines are about certain players wanting to move."

Martinez admitted he was relieved to keep hold of the livewire winger, saying N'Zogbia staying - plus two arrivals in the form of Tom Cleverley and Franco Di Santo - gave his squad sufficient depth.

He added: "If you look at what could happen in two or three months, we could miss a lot of things. You could easily get someone injured for two or three months. Football is a day to day business."