Wanderers welcome local rivals Wigan Athletic to the Toughsheet Community Stadium this weekend in Sky Bet League One Action.
In an early kick off of 12:30pm, it’s all set to be a pulsating match between two teams still yet to be beaten in the league this campaign.
Manager quotes
Ian Evatt:
“It’s hard to have that ‘another game’ mentality because we know how much it means to so many people. It means just the same to us and there’s nothing that we want more than to make our fan base happy.
Obviously everyone is pleased with the start of the season, but it will all go out of the window if we don’t perform on Saturday, that’s the nature of the industry we’re in.
“We’re ready for it, we’re very much in good form and we’re looking forward to it.
“I think this is another step up in terms of opposition. They’ll be extremely confident coming here as well and I think it’s got all of the marking of a good, open game.”
Wigan Athletic Manager Shaun Maloney:
“It’s a big game, but every game feels big - maybe more so because of the minus eight. I know what this means to the fans.
"They’ve been strong and will look to play. They’ve got talented players in the final area, and it’s a big test without the ball.
“I think they will come and try to take the ball off as quickly as they can. Let’s see what we’ve got under the biggest pressure again.”
Team News
In terms of injuries, Wanderers have the same group of players to choose from.
Jon Dadi Bodvarsson and Eoin Toal stepped up their recovery with an appearance for Wanderers’ B Team earlier this week.
Following two yellow cards and subsequently a red card, Dion Charles misses this one through suspension.
For the visitors, Thelo Aasgaard picked up a knock in Tuesday’s game against Carlisle and looks to be unavailable.
Jordan Jones is also not fit enough to feature.
Form guide
Wigan will be fairly satisfied with their beginning to the campaign, especially having had the task of overturning a minus points deficit.
An opening day victory against Derby County was just the tonic for Shaun Maloney’s men who defied the odds to win 2-1 at Pride Park.
Defeat on penalties against Wrexham in the Carabao Cup was followed up by a second league win at home to Northampton after going behind early on. Goals from Charlie Hughes and Callum McManaman turned the tie on its head.
Most recently, on Tuesday night, the Tics earned a hard fought point in Cumbria against Carlisle United in a game in which they might have felt hard done by not to claim all three points.
As for Wanderers, midweek victory over Fleetwood Town thanks to a Victor Adeboyejo hat-trick, continued the Whites’ 100% record to the start of the season in all competitions.
Officials:
Referee: Tom Reeves
Assistant referees: Grant Taylor and Ivan Stankovic
Fourth Official: Ravel Cheosiaua
Kick-off:
Saturday, 12:30pm
Tickets
We’re expecting a big crowd on Saturday don’t miss out on getting your seats for this one!
CLICK HERE to get your tickets.
Coverage:
This game will be streamed LIVE on Wanderers TV for both UK and internationally based supporters.
UK Supporters can buy a match pass by clicking HERE.
International supporters can buy either a match pass, an annual pass or a monthly pass to watch the match by clicking HERE.