He no longer features in Paul Jewell's plans at Latics and it's now a year since he last played for the first-team.
A club record signing when he joined the club from Wolves for £750,000 just over three years ago, Dinning has already been loaned out four times before now.
At the end of his first season with Latics, he had a spell with Stoke City, and last term played at Walsall and Blackpool.
He recently returned to the JJB from a two-month stay with Ipswich, a proposed permanent deal not coming to fruition. Dinning's contract runs out at the end of this season and Jewell has made no secret of the fact that his future lies away from Wigan.
Meanwhile, Jewell will put his sympathy for Leeds United to one side when Wigan Athletic go to Elland Road on Sunday.
The Latics boss has seen at first hand how a club can struggle when it drops out of the Premiership having had a turbulent eight-months in charge of Sheffield Wednesday.
But his only concern on Sunday lunchtime will be trying to coax his Championship leaders towards a 16th unbeaten game – and preferably three points .
Latics march into the game 15 points better off than Leeds who have struggled to adjust to life at this level following relegation from the top flight in May.
The Yorkshire club have had to gut last season's squad and rebuild a new one, and getting them to gell has proved hard work for Jewell's opposite number Kevin Blackwell.
But the Wigan boss still predicts an extremely tough game in front of the Sky Sports cameras and won't let the state of the league table affect their preparations.
Jewell said: "This is a good fixture for us and a very important one for me because I still live over there and my kids go to school there!
"It's one we're looking forward to and it's great that our club is going to somewhere like this.
"Saying that, this is a massive season for Leeds. Living in the area I've heard Kevin Blackwell's comments this season that teams tend to raise their game to play Leeds, and that is probably right.
"But I would think that Leeds will raise their game too when they play us, so it should be a cracking game. Their fans have been brilliant in realising that the club might not bounce back straight away after all that has happened to them.
"When Sheffield Wednesday got relegated, everyone thought they would go straight back up just because of who they were – because they were a big club with a big stadium and some history.
"But Leeds have realised that is nowhere near what you need if you want to be in the top part of the First Division or Championship.
"They've probably thought that if they can get into the top six, great, if not they will continue to build for the future. That club has gone through an horrendous time when you think they were in the Champions League semi-final just three years ago and now they're not even half way up this division."
Latics striker Magno Vieira is hoping to play in the FA Cup for Carlisle United this weekend even though that would cup-tie him for any future involvement in the competition back at the JJB.
The Brazilian has just started his third month on loan with the Cumbrian side and has seven goals to his name in the Nationwide Conference.
Carlisle have a fourth round qualifier against York City on Saturday, and while Latics have so far not given him permission to play, Vieira hopes they change their minds.
He said: "I want to be involved in every single game and I really hope Wigan change their mind and allow me to play.
"I just want to make sure I keep my place in the team, so if I have to miss a game, that will be disappointing. "