Reece James to end Wigan loan spell with captaincy

Posted Friday, May 03, 2019 by PA

Reece James is set to captain Wigan in Sunday’s clash with Millwall at the DW Stadium.

Regular skipper Sam Morsy missed the 1-1 draw at Birmingham last weekend, with Latics already safe from relegation and the midfielder one booking away from a suspension, and boss Paul Cook has said they do not want to risk him being banned for the start of next season.

It was Jonas Olsson who had the armband at St Andrew’s and Cook says fellow defender James will take it for what will be his final appearance before his loan spell from Chelsea ends.

It remains to be seen if there will be any involvement for Josh Windass after he came off injured at half-time during the Birmingham match.

Millwall, who are three places below Wigan in 21st and also safe, have several players unavailable.

Aiden O’Brien, Jed Wallace, Ben Marshall, Ben Thompson and Shaun Hutchinson are all sidelined.

Boss Neil Harris could hand minutes to academy trio George Alexander, Billy Mitchell and Jesse Debrah, all of whom were unused substitutes in the 2-1 loss to Bristol City on Tuesday.

The Lions have not won any of their last six matches – four of them have ended in a draw.