Martinez takes Wigan to the Reebok Stadium
Approaching the tail end of the season, many clubs still have to fight to retain certain positions, avoid relegation or grasp at higher achievements.
Bolton and Wigan are no exception, holding 14th and 15th places respectively and with only one point between them, this weekend’s match will see one team attaining a step away from the threat of relegation, leaving the other in more dire circumstances.
Owen Coyle’s attempts to drive the team to victory have failed in recent matches with the team only attaining 2 victories, against Wolves and West Ham, in the past 5 games.
The team have had a massive 12 goals conceded against them, a huge portion of which came from their most recent defeat at the hands of Sunderland, resulting in a 4-0 crushing of the Bolton squad.
To add to this pressure the team itself is missing a substantial amount of key players; O’Brien, Davis, Cahill, McCann, Holden, Davies and Basham will all miss the game due to injury.
Coyle mentioned this after the Sunderland defeat, "These lads have worked so hard, as we have been decimated by injuries, down to the bare bones tonight and the lads gave us every ounce of effort."
Wigan Athletic are in much better shape with only one absentee, Gohouri, missing this weekends fixture.
The squads confidence will be increased by their recent defeat of Liverpool, 1-0, and only 5 goals conceded against them in the past 5 games.
The Previous 10 meetings between these sides have seen many a draw but, Wigan seem to dominate the score sheet achieving 4 successes against Coyle’s team since 2005.
Their last fixture resulted in a 0-0 draw during mid February of this year.
Wigan Manager Roberto Martinez commented after their last performance against Bolton, “It is a very good point. Every point now is important. I am looking at the performance and all the ingredients you need to be a good side are there - effort, discipline, concentration”.
Considering the recent performances of both teams, against each other and other clubs, it is hard to predict the outcome of this particular game.
The odds stand, in favour of Wigan, at 13/5 with Bet365, correct at time of writing and subject to change
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