Jamie Carragher's son has made his EFL debut after recovering from an injury that left the Liverpool icon in a "dark place".
James Carragher turned out for League One outfit Wigan Athletic in its 1-0 victory over Crawley Town on Saturday, starting the game at right-back and almost managing the full game before being replaced after 78 minutes.
The 21-year-old is naturally a center-back by trade yet showed his versatility by slotting in on the right side of defence for Shaun Maloney's side this weekend, where he will now hope to retain his place ahead of the remainder of the season.
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The 6ft 4in defender had already featured six times for the Latics after making his first-team debut in the Carabao Cup in August 2021, yet Saturday's start at The Brick Community Stadium represented his first league appearance for the club.
Last season, Carragher gained first-team experience on loan at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, making 20 appearances in all competitions for the Scottish Championship outfit, having already featured six times for Oldham Athletic during the first half of the 2022-23 campaign.
Yet Saturday's milestone will come as a huge relief to James and Jamie, after the 21-year-old suffered two-years of ongoing injuries issues that began during the COVID-19 lockdowns, which severely limited his access to medical care, including hospital visits, surgeries, or physio consultations.
The Liverpool legend opened up about his son's injury struggles to Ian Wright and Peter Schmeichel on The Overlap earlier this year, where he reflected on the tough period he went through and confessed it left him "in a dark place" .
After that loan spell at Oldham was ended prematurely due to a knee injury, requiring immediate surgery, the Carragher family were hopeful that the operation would fix the problem. However, all hopes were dashed on the first day of pre-season training for the 2023/24 season.
"I'm thinking finally after two years he's been to see the best person in London... great," an emotional Carragher remembered. "He starts pre-season, I'm on holiday, and on the first day, he phones me. And as soon as he phoned me... I knew straight away, my stomach [gestures downwards].
"I booked a flight [home] that night. The holiday's finished for me. I've got to get home. He can't be at home alone with this. Seeing him and what we went through last summer to try and get to the bottom of it, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."
However, after spending the following months recovering, Carragher Jr regained full fitness and was loaned out to Inverness for the remainder of the 2023-24 campaign. Since returning to the north-west this summer, the youngster enjoyed an impressive pre-season with Wigan.
He has now been rewarded for his hard work with his first appearance and start in the EFL, helping his side to keep a clean sheet and earn its first points of the new season as the Latic moves up to 18th.
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