Omar Rekik impressed on his debut for Wigan Athletic on Monday, but he picked up a seemingly minor muscle injury in the second half.

After spending the first half of the season on loan with Sparta Rotterdam, Omar Rekik was recalled by Arsenal and re-loaned out to Wigan Athletic in the January window.

Rekik had only played 27 minutes for Sparta’s first team in the entirety of his loan, a total he surpassed on his debut for Wigan on Monday.

Playing against Blackburn Rovers, Rekik put in a positive performance, helping bottom-of-the-Championship Wigan to keep a clean sheet.

Omar Rekik vs Blackburn Rovers | Perfect Debut On Loan From Arsenal pic.twitter.com/RcsF7Sey8j

— SLEAZY PRODS. (@sLeAzY2121) February 6, 2023

Unfortunately, the debut was cut short in the 55th minute, as Rekik was substituted with a muscle injury.

The good news is that Wigan manager Shaun Maloney doesn’t believe the problem is anything too bad.

After revealing that Martin Kelly’s injury looked serious, Maloney was more positive about Rekik.

“Omar is a little bit different,” Maloney said. “He has a muscle injury. It doesn’t look as bad so hopefully, he is okay for Saturday. If not, it won’t be that long after that.”

Miguel Azeez is also on loan at Wigan, but he wasn’t involved in the Blackburn game. He was serving a one-match suspension after an FA charge for picking up a flare and throwing it to the ground on his debut.

So whilst neither player has had the ideal start to life on loan in Wigan, both will feel they now have an opportunity ahead of them to impress and keep the Championship side up.