Roberto Martinez has told Charles N'Zogbia he must prove himself to his Wigan team-mates.
Latics boss tells winger he must earn recall
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has challenged Charles N'Zogbia to prove himself to his team-mates after almost leaving last week.
The 24-year-old handed in a transfer request on the eve of the season and was on the verge of making a £9million move to Birmingham but the deal collapsed when the French winger altered his demands.
N'Zogbia was left out of the Wigan side which claimed a surprise 1-0 win at Tottenham last Saturday and, despite reportedly trying to revive a move to Birmingham on transfer deadline day, he remains a Wigan player.
The ex-Newcastle man was handed his international debut last month on the back of a fine first full season at the DW Stadium and before that win at Tottenham, the Latics lost 4-0 and 6-0 in their opening two league games.
But Martinez has told N'Zogbia he must show his commitment to the cause to get back in favour and regain a regular starting role.
"He is an important player for Wigan," he said. "Now it is a matter of him showing the players how focused and dedicated he is to help the team achieve things.
Turbulent
"Charles has been through a turbulent period but he wanted to stay at Wigan so his frame of mind is the right one.
"Now he has to show how ready he is on the training ground to see if he can be prepared to help the team get a result.
"You need to prove yourself, show how much you care about the team and the club before yourself, and if you do that your talent will speak.
"When you have talented players like Charles N'Zogbia you want them in the football club and now it is down to him to show how much he wants to play for us."
Martinez feels that N'Zogbia's actions disrupted the dressing room at a time when there were already a lot of changes going on to the team dynamic.
Team spirit
But the Spanish boss believes that everyone involved has now put the saga behind them.
"What you get with that sort of result (at Tottenham) is that we have real competition for places and that is quite clear," he added.
"There is a real team spirit in the dressing room. We have eight new players and lost 10 so you can understand the dressing room loses certain rules and certain responsibilities and it is very easy to have individuals playing as a team.
"To have that feeling as a group of players fighting for each other and understanding what the next move is in relation to my team-mate that is how you become a team."
