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Rodallega injury rocks defeated Wigan

Hugo Rodallega was stretchered off at Everton © PA Photos

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Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega is set for a long spell on the sidelines after suffering knee ligament damage in the 3-1 defeat at Everton.

Rodallega was stretchered off in injury time at Goodison Park and manager Roberto Martinez confirmed the injury was a serious one.

"It is too early to tell but the signs are not good, it seems like it's a rupture of the medial ligament in his right knee,'' said Martinez. "He will have a scan in the morning but it doesn't look a good one.''

Wigan took the lead in the first half through Franco Di Santo but Everton were level inside two minutes as Phil Jagielka nodded home. A late goal from substitute Apostolos Vellios restored Everton's lead before Royston Drenthe added a third in stoppage time.

Everton manager David Moyes has issues of his own relating to strikers - only off the pitch. Louis Saha, who has played just 41 minutes this season in two substitute appearances, was left out of the squad and immediately vented his frustration on Twitter.

"I am not good enough. Absolutely destroyed. It's coz I'm confident in my ability that I'm gutted,'' the 33-year-old Frenchman wrote on learning he had not made the 18. Asked about the player's comments Moyes said: "It's good that, great. I want them upset when they are not involved.''

It is understood Saha left the ground soon after discovering he was not in the squad. "Everybody reports for the game and we tell them the subs, because they knew the team,'' added the Everton boss. "I'm not really that bothered. I was interested in the 11 players I was concentrating on and that is what everyone should have been concentrating on.''

The introduction of the 19-year-old Vellios and Drenthe bore fruit and Moyes was pleased for both players. "We made the decision we needed to try something,'' explained Moyes. "We ran out of ideas midway though the second half and we were looking for solutions as to how to cause Wigan problems. The goals may have come but I wasn't so mad on bits of the performance.

"If you judge it on goals it worked, but if you judge it on performance like I do then I would be hoping all the subs would come on and play much better. But if we are expecting a 19-year-old boy from Greece and a couple of free transfers to come on and make a difference then people have to change their expectations.''

Martinez felt his side warranted a point from the game. "It is one of those days where you don't get the result you deserved,'' said the Spaniard. "Ninety per cent of our performance was exactly what we wanted and that little 10% was not to stop two crosses, one in the first half and one in the second.

"I feel we got heavily punished. If we had played this game 10 times we would have got something out of it in nine of them.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.