Latics players fly back to base unscathed

Touch wood, Latics players who represented their country have been arriving back at the training ground this morning, and early indications would suggest that there are no problems to report!

CHRIS KIRKLAND says he was greatly honoured to be included in Fabio Capello's first squad, and was on the bench for England's 2-1 victory over Switzerland at Wembley.

JASON KOUMAS scored twice in Wales 3-0 demolition of Norway at Wrexham and was the star of the show, while DAVID COTERILL enjoyed half an hour when he replaced Freddie Eastwood after an hour. ERIK HAGEN was excused from playing following his transfer to Latics.

KEVIN KILBANE played the full 90 minutes as the Republic of Ireland went down narrowly at Croke Park against Brazil.

MARIO MELCHIOT played 71 minutes as Holland impressively won 3-0 in Croatia

Two players who haven't made it back yet are MARLON KING, who played the full 90 in Jamaica's 1-1 draw with Coasta Rica in Kingston and MAYNOR FIGUEROA, who also played the full match in Honduras' 2-0 homewin over Paraguay.

Steve Bruce, Latics manager, said: "It's always a nervy time when you wait for the boys to come back from international duty, but it's also a big honour for the lads to represent their countries. We'll assess everything in the next day."