With a tough nine matches ahead, Roberto Martinez took his Wigan Athletic team off for a week long training camp in the sun. La Manga will be their home for this week, keeping them away from the media and the distractions of home.
With us having a two week break, the gaffer has thought on and taken the lads away to Spain for some intensive fitness and traning programmes to get them in the best possible shape for the hard run in ahead.
Latics look to be needing 4 or 5 wins from their last nine games, more than they have acheived this season, to keep our Premier League status. We do have very winnable games coming up and with recent peformances being very uplifting, the confidence is high that we can drag our selves out of the mire.
This is why Wigan Athletic’s First Team are in La Manga this week, taking advantage of a quiet spell in the fixture schedule to complete a warm-weather training programme.
Speaking to the official site’s TV station, Roberto Martinez explained how the benefits of the team’s stay in the Spanish camp reach far beyond their work on the training pitch:
"In the one complex we can work on a number of different areas, strengthening the team and also spending more time on recovery techniques which are important," said Martinez.
"You have to remember that for some of the players, after a demanding summer playing in the World Cup, they need good time to regenerate the body.
"That has been very easy for them to do here.
"On the pitches the work we’re doing hasn’t changed too much from what we do back home, but the amount of time we spend together is priceless and has helped not only with recovery but also in allowing the players to come even closer together as a group.
"As a group we took in Tuesday night’s game between Barcelona and Arsenal and it’s good that we can work hard during the day and sit down together of an evening and watch some football which we’ll be during through the week.
"The work and training out here is the priority, but also the time we’ll spend together as a group is invaluable."
The Gaffer also revealed how the facilities and close attention to detail he and his team can afford to the players in La Manga has progressed the rehabilitation of Emmerson Boyce, saying:
"Another big advantage of being here is that Emmerson Boyce has been able to complete three sessions each day, and of course we can look after his recovery 24-7.
"On Thursday he is due to join the group in training which is excellent news and a sign that we have accelerated his recovery process by being here."
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