Chris Herd has returned to parent club Aston Villa to receive treatment for a season-ending knee injury.
The 25-year old Australian midfielder sustained ligament damage while on loan for Wigan Athletic in Wednesday night's Championship clash with Reading.
Herd will now return to Villa, where he will undergo surgery on the problem area, and Latics boss Malky Mackay admits he will be a big loss to the DW Stadium outfit who are striving to climb out of the relegation zone.
"It is really disappointing, he has been terrific," Mackay told Sky Sports News HQ.
"He arrived and was full of enthusiasm and I had a lot of good reports on him, especially from (ex-Villa boss) Paul Lambert.
"It is such a big blow to lose someone like him, despite his lack of first-team action.
"We knew straight away that it was a serious one, the way he landed."
