Henri Camara has been ruled out for six weeks through injury, leaving Wigan short of attacking options for the festive period.
The Senegalese forward picked up a knee knock during the first half of Saturday's Premiership defeat to Sheffield United.
Scans show that Camara has suffered medial ligament damage and that he will be out of action until the end of January.
With Lee McCulloch facing a three-match ban it is another headache for Wigan manager Paul Jewell ahead of Saturday's Premiership visit of Chelsea.
Jewell said: "Henri is probably going to be (out for) six weeks.
"He has done his medial ligament and that's a big blow," added Jewell, who has acted by recalling Polish youngster Tomasz Cywka from his loan spell at Oldham.
Reading goalkeeper Graham Stack faces a month on the sidelines. The former Republic of Ireland under-21 international suffered an ankle injury while on loan at Leeds.
