Wigan winger Victor Moses has defended manager Roberto Martinez's decision to rest him at the weekend.
• Wigan blog: Martinez under pressure
Moses, 21, was left on the bench until the second half of the Latics 2-0 home defeat against Swansea having returned from making his Nigeria debut in Rwanda.
Chairman Dave Whelan publicly questioned Martinez's selection, which also saw Mohamed Diame and Hugo Rodallega start on the bench. But Moses said the Spaniard had made the right decision.
"Obviously it's never nice when you're not playing, but it's the manager's decision and I was feeling tired after being away with Nigeria,'' he said. "I'd done a lot of travelling in a short space of time and it's not an ideal way to prepare for a football match.
"The fans probably don't realise that travelling so far for a game in midweek really does take it out of you, out of your legs especially.
"A couple of the other lads were the same - only getting back on Friday evening - and when you're going out there with tired legs, that's when you're risking getting injuries - which obviously the gaffer is trying to prevent.
"If you're away from the club between Monday and Friday it's also hard to be fully focused on the game with the preparation, so I understood the decision.''
With 11 matches to save their Premier League future Moses believes the players will produce a response after another disappointment at the DW Stadium which left them rooted to the bottom of the table.
"What happened last week was part and parcel of the game, but the gaffer knows what he's doing and we'll be aiming to bounce back at Norwich,'' he told the Wigan Evening Post. "We weren't on our game last weekend but it's happened now and it's up to us to bounce back and I'm sure we will.''
