Manager on Monday

Gianfranco Zola is looking forward to a quieter week at Chadwell Heath as the squad reflect on a win, loss and a draw in their opening three matches of the Barclays Premier League season.

With new forward Alessandro Diamanti and fit-again midfielder Valon Behrami both set to be fully involved but eleven senior players away on international duty, the manager will have to adjust his training preparations in the wake of the goalless draw at Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. There is also the chance this week to run the rule over his promising youngsters in Tuesday night's opening match of the new Barclays Premier Reserve League campaign at Aston Villa.

Zola said: "We have a lot of players that are going to play with the national team. [The international break] will certainly not help them to relax but it will help those that are not going. No problem though, when they come back we are going to be ready for Wigan."

That return trip to the north-west on Saturday week will occupy the manager's thoughts entirely in the days ahead and certainly he is not fazed by things off the field - especially the transfer window. "We have had a lot of things going on but it has been like that since last year. We are going through all of these things and we are going to do good work."

The latest addition to the fold will help sharpen the focus for Wigan. "Diamanti is a good player," Zola said. "He has got a lot of talent. He is one of those players that can give us something different. I am looking forward to having him available for selection.

"He was very determined to come and play for West Ham and certainly the supporters have helped him make the decision. He is a player that can excite them and we are looking forward to having him on the pitch."

Looking back to the weekend, Zola believed his players were full-value for both the result, and a second consecutive Barclays Premier League clean-sheet on their travels. "It had been a long week with a lot of things going on, but I think we coped with it very well. I'm looking forward to the next few days when we can rest a little bit and be ready for the next game.

"I don't know if this is a game we would have lost in the past, but certainly we look very mature right now. It was a game that, for physical reasons, we could not give our best, but the players stood there strong on the pitch and didn't concede anything. So, it was a very mature performance.

"This was the third game we played in six days plus the Tuesday match was a very exhausting game, we played 120 minutes. It was tough and we found that in the second half when we dropped our performance. We defended very well though and managed to get a draw. I am happy."

With the domestic programme on hold, fan attention will of course remain on the transfer market, which will be a hive of activity ahead of the closure of the summer window. Monday's press was again full of rumour and speculation but the manager summed up that nothing would be fully known until deadline at 5pm on Tuesday. "We will see what happens," he said.