Category Archives: News

Wigan Athletic 0 Aston Villa 0: A point earned or two points lost?

Posted by Ned in Match Reports, News, Other and tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Wigan Athletic’s second 0-0 of the season, in what was probably the most predictable result on the fixture list, seems to be sparking far more debate than the rather more colourful affairs we’ve graced. Was this a missed opportunity after another frustrating display of poor attacking play, or should we be grateful for the point, the clean sheet and move on?

The match itself was not one for the neutral. Latics controlled possession, passing commendably despite a torn up pitch (thanks rugby), but didn’t create anything of note. Villa waited patiently, breaking dangerously through Robbie Keane and Darren Bent, but found Al-Habsi at his best. Jean Beausejour’s contribution down the left has resulted in an increased volume of crosses, but there remains no one with the striking instincts, or heading ability, to meet them. Wigan logged 14 corners without coming close to scoring from them. Is Lee McCulloch available?

Victor Moses’ head was sadly stuck firmly in the “down” position, at one point failing to realize there was no one was within 30 yards of him before booting in a cross down the right wing. Hugo Rodallega came on and was immediately involved in Latics’ two best chances — the first, a neat turn and decent left-footed curler that sailed over the bar; the second a difficult half volley after Victor Moses appeared to have been felled in the penalty area. For all Franco Di Santo’s exemplary running around and skill on the ball, he never seems to get himself into these types of situations.

Aston Villa delivered a classic Alex McLeish performance, collecting yellow cards for cynical fouls and hoping for a piece of magic from one of their talented front men, or a lucky bounce from a set piece. Latics may yet go down but at least we don’t have to watch that sort of muck.

Despite seven minutes of injury-time — as a result of Darren Bent’s injury and the Gods of football plea for a goal — it ended 0-0.

The Good:

Our third clean sheet of the season. Gary Caldwell, Antolin Alcaraz and Maynor Figueroa all had excellent games. Despite being a virtual spectator in the second half, Ali Al-Habsi made two fantastic saves in the opening 15 minutes that eventually earned the side a point. A lot of credit for the recent defensive improvement must also go to James McArthur, who put in another inspirational shift of effort and graft in midfield. It was a sign of how highly his contribution is valued that Roberto opted to keep him on the pitch, instead asking James McCarthy to make way for Mo Diame in the second half. Jean Beausejour deserves a mention for his increasingly influential performances down the left. Before his arrival, Latics were depending on Ronnie Stam’s crosses from the right. While many of us would like to see them both on the pitch, it has to be said that Emmerson Boyce’s inclusion has also contributed to Latics’ best defensive performances of the season of late.

The Bad:

The final third of the pitch. Jordi Gomez and Victor Moses, the men charged with creating chances, had bad games. Jordi wasn’t noticeably bad, he just wasn’t very noticeable. Which is bad. Victor Moses was involved in Latics’ most promising play but was again let down by hesitancy or that frustrating final pass. Jordi enjoyed a fantastic run of form over the Christmas period, while Moses is up and down. We need one of them to deliver in games like this. It’s the type of game that Charles N’Zogbia might have won for us last year. A Jordi free-kick or a bit of Moses magic is due. Incidentally, the aforementioned N’Zogbia spent most of the afternoon on the Villa bench. What a waste.

Two points lost or a point gained?

While it does heap pressure on the next fixture, I don’t see this draw as a big problem. Of the next three, Latics probably need 6 points: Swansea (h), Norwich (a), and WBA (h). Results elsewhere this weekend were favourable. Most encouraging was QPR’s loss to Fulham. QPR still face the league’s top six clubs in their remaining 12 games. Blackburn and Bolton both lost to strong opposition, but a more important loss to Blackburn came in the form of Christopher Samba’s transfer to Russia — an important player and leader for them. Wolves may have gotten a point at Newcastle but failed to appoint a new manager of any pedigree, and still look in deep trouble. Latics’ next match against Swansea is pivotal. If we fail to win that one, we are going to be in need of points at places like Anfield or Stamford Bridge, not a situation we want to put ourselves in. We hit the post three times last time we played Swansea. A bit of luck this time could see us out of the bottom three.

A Neutral Would Say

Villa had a couple chances but were an eyesore. Latics deserved a goal for all their possession, corners, and pressure.

Player Ratings

Al Al-Habsi: 8 —  Didn’t have much to do, but kept things even with two excellent first half saves.

Antolin Alcaraz: 8 — Looking very strong in recent matches.

Gary Caldwell: 8 — Excellent performance again from the captain.

Maynor Figueroa: 7.5 — Doesn’t get a lot of credit for it, but makes a lot of headed clearances. Neither Caldwell or Alcaraz are particularly tall as far as centre-halves go, his height is important.

Emmerson Boyce: 6 — A wonderful moment for Boycey after he broke the club’s record for Premier League appearances (146), previously held by Paul Scharner. But it was one of his weaker performances, it looked like his legs were failing him. He did make one crucial second half tackle to block a Robbie Keane shot, however. While Ronnie Stam offers a more exciting option at right wing-back — and certainly a fantastic option from the subs bench — Boyce’s experience, defensive solidity, and occasional burst forward might make him a safer bet in the starting lineup for the run-in.

Jean Beausejour: 7.5 — Neat in possession, the Chilean played some nice balls into the box, and didn’t shy away from his defensive work either.

James McArthur: 8 — Great tackling, simple distribution, he is becoming a leader by example.

James McCarthy: 7 — Similar to James McArthur, but has more to offer offensively.

Jordi Gomez: 6 — Not creating enough.

Victor Moses: 6 — Needs to be more decisive when he’s in the box with a shooting opportunity. And more thoughtful when he’s outside the box, looking for a teammate.

Franco Di Santo: 7 — Did his job well, worked very hard, but wasn’t really anywhere near the score sheet.

Subs:

Hugo Rodallega: 7 — Immediately involved in Latics best chances. A neat turn and left-footed shot, following by a half volley after Moses went down in the penalty area.

Mo Diame: N/A — Would like to see him back in the starting lineup against Swansea.

Albert Crusat: N/A — Came on late.

Can Wigan Athletic do it again? A survival analysis

Posted by Ned in News, Other, Reflections and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

As Latics supporters, we’re used to being written off before a ball is kicked. Wigan will finally go down this year, we’re told every year. Yet somehow this fantastic little club clings to its Premier League status again and again — we’ve become survival specialists. It was no mean feat under Paul Jewell, an enthusiasm-fueled season like Norwich are enjoying at the moment. Or under Steve Bruce, when he totally revived a team of strugglers and misfits. But in the Martinez era, it has been achieved on half the budget, allowing the club to allocate funds toward youth development and long-term sustainability.

Indeed the worst case scenario, that of relegation, is a lot less worrying than it was three years ago. The squad is deep and young, with few big name players on heavy wage packets. Latics would probably lose three or four quality players — Rodallega, Diame, Moses, and perhaps James McCarthy — but would still have a very competent side capable of winning the Championship. As evidence, Callum McManaman, who can’t buy playing time with the current squad, starred during his loan stint at Blackpool, who are 4th in said league. Nouha Dicko, yet to feature for the first team at Wigan, scored on his debut for the Seasiders several days ago. Jordi Gomez was far and away voted the best player in the Championship last time he played in it.

All this said, incredibly — despite a cruel fixture list featuring the newly promoted teams in days 1, 2 and 3; a stretch of back-to-back games over Christmas against big four opposition; an 8-match losing steak; a (separate) 9-match winless streak — we’re not down yet.

In fact, we’ve hung in there just long enough that opportunity knocks, and real optimism is brewing. It’s tighter this year than last, when more teams got sucked into the battle. But this year it will take less points. We are essentially in a five-team relegation mini-league at the bottom of the table, cut adrift from the other 15 not only by 7 points but a gulf in quality. Aston Villa will not get relegated despite Alex McLeish’s best efforts, nor will Fulham, Stoke or West Brom. Three of them have too much quality, and the other has Roy Hodgson. The best bet for anyone else joining the party appeared to be a collapse in form from one of the newly promoted sides, but Swansea’s strength at home should keep them safe, while Norwich are already only about two wins away from safety.

So we’re looking at a mini-league between QPR, Blackburn, Wolves, Bolton and ourselves, with the top two surviving.

The Opposition:

Bolton were poor last Saturday, with no imagination going forward and a leaky defense that Victor Moses ran rings around. The loss of Gary Cahill only makes things worse for them. The decline of Kevin Davies, coupled with the departure of Johan Elmander, has stripped them of firepower.

Wolves have been looking pretty poor too, but are likely to benefit from the galvanizing effect a new manager, after Mick McCarthy was sacked. Potential replacement Alan Curbishley has been out of the game for a while but is a decent manager, Steve Bruce has rescued teams before and Wolves’ squad would certainly suit his style.

QPR, I suspect, will win the mini-league. They bought proven quality, and Mark Hughes is a good manager. It’s hard to see a team featuring experienced players like Sean Wright-Phillips, Bobby Zamora, Joey Barton, Luke Young, Djibril Cisse going down. Look at their squad. That said, they play the top six in their last 13 matches, so there is little margin for error.

Blackburn are a bizarre bunch. Steve Kean is out of his depth, but has somehow turned an ageing, injury-prone Everton striker into a goal machine, something Harry Redknapp also gambled on with immediate success at White Hart Lane with Louis Saha. Take away Yak or Pedersen, however, and Blackburn are in trouble. Hard to predict. The away fixture at Ewood Park looms large.

A Favorable Fixture List:

Of the 13 matches left, only four are games we probably can’t win — Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal away, and Man United at home. Any points here would be a huge bonus. Of the remaining eight fixtures, six are at home against teams we are good enough to beat: Aston Villa, Swansea, West Brom, Stoke, Newcastle, Wolves. Leaving just Norwich, Fulham and Blackburn away, tough matches but in the scheme of things not that daunting. The normal 40 point target looks difficult to achieve, but everyone’s point total in the bottom five is so low that I doubt any more than 35 will be necessary.

Villa (H), Swansea (H), Norwich (A), WBA (H), Liverpool (A), Stoke (H), Chelsea (A), Man Utd (H), Arsenal (A), Fulham (A), Newcastle (H), Blackburn (A), Wolves (H)

* Wigan and QPR play 7 home games; Blackburn, Bolton and Wolves only play 6 more at home.

* Wigan have by far the most favourable crucial last game of the season: Chelsea – Blackburn, Wigan – Wolves, Stoke – Bolton, Man City – QPR

* Assuming the following big six: Man Utd, Man City, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool — QPR has the worst fixtures, facing them all. Wolves and Blackburn play five of them. Wigan faces four of them,  Bolton only face three.

A Fit Squad, Raring to Go:

Martinez spoke last season of the importance of youth and fitness in the season run-in. Having struggled with injuries in the first half of the season, it appears the squad is fit and ready for the run-in. Key players such as Emmerson Boyce, Antolin Alcaraz, Hugo Rodallega all missed significant time earlier in the season but are now in the clear. Shaun Maloney recently completed 90 minutes for the reserves and was quoted as saying he is ready to push for a place in the first team. Competition in midfield is outstanding, with James McArthur staking his claim but Mo Diame returning from the African Cup of Nations, and Ben Watson — untouchable in the lineup this time last year — on the fringes. The bench against Bolton including Ronnie Stam, Albert Crusat, Mo Diame, Ben Watson, Dave Jones and Hugo Rodallega must rank as the strongest in the club’s history, and  people like Shaun Maloney, Hendry Thomas, Conor Sammon, Callum McManaman didn’t even dress. The only truly irreplaceable player is Ali Al-Habsi.

#keeptheFaith

Few people expected us to be within 2 points of 16th place at this stage of the season given the horrific form before Christmas and fixtures that followed. There is still a lot wrong with the team, in particular in front of goal. But with a bit of luck in the injury and suspensions department, continued improvement from Victor Moses’ final ball, and favourable results elsewhere, we might just live the dream once again. Here’s hoping…

Blind optimist? Spot on? Leave a comment.

Bolton 1 Wigan Athletic 2: Vital win kickstarts revival

Posted by Ned in Match Reports, News, Other and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wigan Athletic took a giant step towards revival (and survival?) with a 2-1 success over Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. A loss would have cut Latics eight points adrift and delivered a probably fatal blow to the side’s morale. Instead, the gap between the bottom five has been narrowed to an encouraging two points. Better still, the squad has a tasty fixture list coming up including three home fixtures against Aston Villa, Swansea and West Brom, with a trip to Norwich in between. Without getting ahead of ourselves, things are suddenly looking up at the DW.

Martinez’s men started slowly but started to take control of the match about 20 minutes in. Franco Di Santo, working hard up front with little service, received the ball deep and weaved before fizzing a powerful attempt just over and wide. Victor Moses embarked on a mazy trademark run, crashing a left-footed effort into the side netting (a trademark finish). Bolton’s approaches were largely limited to set pieces and hopeful shooting from outside the box, while Latics enjoyed the lion’s share of the possession. Pressure finally told when Gary Caldwell impressively beat David Wheater — who must have at least 5 inches on the Scot — in the air to power home a Jean Beausejour corner late in the first half. 1-0 Wigan at half-time.

The second half started in much the same vein, with Latics closer to a second than Bolton to an equalizer. A couple of penalty shouts that Howard Webb would have awarded Man United without second thought went unnoticed before Victor Moses spectacularly lost his man down the right flank and delivered the perfect final pass for James McArthur, who could only tap straight into Bolton’s Hungarian keeper’s arms. It was the kind of killer pass that Moses has so often been unable to pick out this season, instead going for glory himself or hesitating at the last second. Roberto spoke about the work they are doing with him on the training ground to address these situations in particular, lets hope it is a sign of things to come.

It was soon deja vu, and with the chance to go 2-0 up spurned, Bolton pull an equalizer out of a hat. The buildup was classic Bolton stuff — a mighty hoof from Adam Bogdan bouncing off the unwitting David N’gog’s back. But the finish was sublime, a left-footed thunderbolt from the underrated Mark Davies. James McArthur later expressed his relief at scoring the winner because Davies was his man. But there was little he could do on this one, and it spoke volumes of Jimmy Mac’s performance that he kept Davies quiet for the rest of the match.

The response was immediate. Latics went for it. With Rodallega now on the pitch, you could see a wave of Latics players pushing forward when Victor Moses broke free on the left and ran through unopposed. His low shot had enough power for the carrot-haired Bogdan to spill it straight into the path of the sprinting James McArthur. This time, the Scot made no mistake and you could see what it meant to the players as they celebrated in front of Latics’ traveling support.

There was a final scare when the impressive Ryo Miyaichi found space in the box after neat interplay and fired off a shot, but Ali Al-Habsi was at his best to deny him a debut goal. Latics created a couple half chances on the counter, but a confused-looking Rodallega made a mess of them. Latics’ defending was steady, on set pieces in particular — enjoying the extra height and defensive nous of Emmerson Boyce at right wing-back, in addition to the three centre-halves — and they held on for three points of gold.

The Good:

The performance and result. They dominated, passed the ball well, Victor Moses created at least three goal-scoring opportunities from open play, and the defending was strong. The commitment and desire matched that of Latics’ spectacular season run-in last year. McCarthy and McArthur were lions in midfield, everyone played their part in a good team win.

The Bad:

The game should have been killed off well before Bolton’s equalizer, and it highlights Latics continued lack of confidence in front of goal. A better team — like Everton a week prior — might have punished Latics’ wastefulness. Jordi Gomez, there to provide that killer pass, was unable to create anything of note. Aside from Moses, the best chances of the game fell to Emmerson Boyce and James McArthur, hardly known for their finishing.

A Neutral Would Say

Latics were good value for the three points here, with Victor Moses in particular proving a headache for a lacklustre Bolton side.

Player Ratings

Al Al-Habsi: 8 —  Didn’t have much to do, but made a match-winning save when called upon.

Antolin Alcaraz: 7 — Solid, kept it simple.

Gary Caldwell: 8 — Defended strongly and made the important breakthrough when Latics were struggling to find a way through.

Maynor Figueroa: 7 — Decent defensive performance.

Emmerson Boyce: 7 — A good choice by Martinez for a game of such importance. Provides less going forward than Ronnie Stam, but made an important contribution.

Jean Beausejour: 7.5 — Faded in the second half, but added another assist to his tally and was involved in much Latics attacking play in the first half. Proving a useful signing.

James McArthur: 8 — A selfless team player, he tackled well, distributed efficiently, and must have covered every blade of grass at the Reebok. The winning goal was great reward for his efforts. Has less in his arsenal than both Mo Diame and Ben Watson offensively but makes up for it in attitude. Very encouraging to see a midfielder busting a gut to get into goalscoring positions as he did twice in this match.

James McCarthy: 7.5 — Showed one moment of true class with a sharp half volley pass to Jean Beausejour in the first half. Fantastic work-rate, good distribution.

Jordi Gomez: 6 — Instrumental in keeping possession but ultimately didn’t create enough.

Victor Moses: 8 — Bolton couldn’t handle him. A constant menace, he created the winning goal and should have had an assist after serving it up on a platter for McArthur early in the second half.

Franco Di Santo: 7 — Did his job well, had a great effort from distance, but no real scoring chances.

Subs:

Hugo Rodallega: 4 — Didn’t know what day it was. Looked confused when given the ball. A shame, because he found himself in good positions and might have killed the game off.

Dave Jones: N/A — Wasted 45 seconds coming on for Di Santo, good man.

What happened to the FA Cup? A post mortem

Posted by JJ (Tony) in Match Reports, News, Other, Reflections and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wigan Athletic have enjoyed some unforgettable moments in the FA Cup. My fondest memory remains a trip to Maine Road to play European Cup Winners Cup holders Manchester City, in January 1971. A fine Man City footballing team full of household names like Bell, Summerbee, and Young, playing against non-league Wigan. There were more than 45,000 people there that day, estimates of 20,000 of them traveling from Wigan. Those were the days of Geoff Davies as Latics’ centre forward. Signed from Northwich for £800, Geoff scored five hat tricks in his first three months, ending up with 42 goals for the season. Latics were unlucky to be losing 1-0 to a Colin Bell goal after 83 minutes following a bad goal kick from their admirable goalkeeper, Dennis Reeves. He had split his boot but apparently did not want to lose his concentration by stopping the play. You can see it here. In the last minute, Geoff Davies had a superb header pawed onto the post by the excellent Joe Corrigan. An unlucky ending for Gordon Milne’s  Latics team whose performance brought great pride to its supporters.

I also recall watching Latics play Leeds United in the sixth round of the FA Cup in 1987. It was a scrappy affair played at a windswept Springfield Park. Sixth round remains the furthest Latics have reached in the FA Cup. When I was a little kid my Dad would talk about the epic cup ties with First Division Newcastle United in the 1953-54 season, with Latics drawing away 3-3 and being on the side of unfortunate refereeing decisions in the 2-3 reverse in the replay. That was the same season a crowd of 27,526 watched them beat non-league Hereford at Springfield Park. The figure remains a record home crowd for Wigan Athletic and also a record for two non-league teams playing at a non-league ground.

Then things changed. In the summer of 1999, Manchester United were given the opportunity to withdraw from the FA Cup for the 1999-2000 season. The reason was political: the FA wanted them to take part in the World Club Championship in Brazil. Alex Ferguson was later quoted “I regretted it because we got nothing but stick and terrible criticism for not being in the FA Cup when really, it wasn’t our fault. The FA and the government felt that playing in this tournament would help England’s bid to host the 2006 World Cup. There was a lot of undue criticism – but it was a great two-week break.” United crashed out in the first round in Brazil, England would fail in their World Cup bid, but Ferguson’s team would go on to win the Premier League by an unbelievable 18 points.

The world’s oldest competition has never recovered from that. United’s withdrawal sparked a downward spiral. How sad it is these days to see Premier League clubs fielding weak teams, citing the overriding importance of their league position. Wigan Athletic’s FA Cup record since joining the Premier League has been less than impressive. They have won 3, drawn 4 and lost 6 in the FA Cup. Last week’s debacle at Swindon is the second time they have lost to a League 2 side, having been defeated 2-0 by Notts County at the DW Stadium in 2009-2010. They have not progressed beyond the fourth round since arriving in the Premier League.

I have read some really good articles on Latics fan sites about last week’s performance against Swindon. I commend those Latics fanatics for the way they have tried to provide a factual kind of report, rather than lambast the players involved. Being Latics fans we need to have thick skins, having been through the real lows of 9-1 and 8-0 defeats to London sides in recent years. However, capitulation to big clubs like Tottenham and Chelsea is one thing, but losing so badly to teams from League 2 twice in three years is hard to take. Roberto Martinez has a great knack of stressing the positives and this time he singled out the performances of Callum McManaman and Jordan Mustoe in the Swindon game. McManaman was excellent during the first half, although he faded out in the second. Mustoe did not look out of place, but hardly excelled. Apart from the goalkeeper the rest were truly mediocre. In the second half it looked like Latics were going through a training exercise, there being so little dynamism and commitment. Supposedly the team was composed largely of fringe players bursting to prove themselves and get into the first team. That certainly did not look the case. Frankly it looked like many of them did not care. The stats show that Latics committed 4 fouls, a long way from their season’s Premier League average of 13 per game. Despite only committing so few fouls they received 3 yellow cards. Hard stats to digest! Moreover if either team played the classier football it was almost certainly Swindon. Hats off to Di Canio for his approach, but let’s not forget they were aided and abetted by a lack of commitment by their opponents.

So what is it with Latics and the FA Cup these days? Although there were two young players in the starting lineup the rest were seasoned Premier League squad players. Did those fringe players really believe that a good performance could edge them back into the first team? If so why did we not visibly see more effort from them? Was it already in their heads that the result did not matter? I simply cannot fathom this. Following the Tottenham drubbing a group of players got together to offer traveling fans their money back. Given how low those players must have felt at the time it was a magnificent gesture. I wonder if the players who underperformed at Swindon would think in a similar way?

Latics need to decide what they want from the FA Cup and give their fans due notice. I feel sorry for the dedicated fans who traveled to Swindon to watch that match. What alternatives do Latics have if they remain in the Premier League next year and the FA Cup comes up once again? One is to put their strongest team on the pitch and actually try to win. Another is to do what they have done in recent years and frustrate their fans to the point of losing their support. A third is to play the development squad and not worry about the result. A  fourth is to seek FA approval to withdraw from the competition. Whatever the decision it is my view that the FA needs to take a look at how it can revive the world’s oldest football competition, so that teams like Wigan Athletic will once again treat it seriously.

Keep an eye out for… a look at Latics fringe players ahead of Swindon

Posted by Ned in Match Previews, News and tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Judging by his post-match comments earlier this week, Roberto is ready to give his first team a good week and a half of rest and relaxation. They did, after all, face the traditional top four in back-to-back matches, the most physical team in the Premier League away, and Sunderland in heavy rain and swirling winds. Two of those were played with 10 men, and at least one against 12, it could be argued.

All of which means we are likely to see a few of the younger players in the squad, and a few older faces that have been on the fringe of the squad this season. Here are some of the lads I’ll be looking out for tomorrow:

Callum McManaman: the 20-year-old is fresh from a successful loan spell at Blackpool, who judging by fan forums were sad to lose him. He scored a couple goals and looked quite confident. Scored for Latics almost exactly a year ago in last season’s FA Cup 3rd round, so he’ll be hoping to repeat the feat. It was cracker (40 secs in).

Nouha Dicko: Signed on the cheap from a club in financial trouble, just like Victor Moses, Dicko may well eventually be the man to replace him when Victor inevitably moves onward and upward. Lightning quick, the former Strasbourg man can play on the wing or as a striker, and has been the main attacking threat in the reserves for much of the season.

Shaun Maloney: When he joined towards the end of the summer transfer window, along with Albert Crusat and Patrick Van Aanholt (on loan), many felt he was Martinez’s biggest coup. One of the few players signed in the Martinez era with Premier League experience, Maloney is clever passer of the ball and dead ball specialist. He has, however, struggled with injuries down the years. This match should be a chance to assess his fitness levels.

Hendry Thomas: The Honduran hard man has been neither on the bench with the first team, or in the reserves regularly — and yet reports said he was due to have his contract renewed. The authors of this blog appreciate his no nonsense approach in midfield, it will be nice to see the old fella if he gets the call.

James McArthur: Almost certain to start, James has frequently featured for the first team in the last 10 minutes of Premier League matches, but hasn’t showed quite enough to jump Ben Watson, James McCarthy or Momo Diame in the pecking order. Probably one of the big reasons Hendry Thomas has fallen out of the reckoning, Martinez clearly has faith in the Scot. He’ll be looking forward to a full 90 minutes.

Emmerson Boyce: A favourite on this blog, Boycey is the ultimate professional, the most dependable player at the club. Unfortunately, he hasn’t featured since the away loss at Wolves, in which he skilfully earned the team a penalty. First, his young son was seriously ill, in hospital. And then he and his wife welcomed another baby into the family over the festive period. We understand his son’s health has improved — Latics fans will be grateful to see him back in the squad.

Michael Pollitt: Assuming Al-Habsi gets a rest, and the unfortunate Chris Kirkland has not recovered from his latest bout of injuries, it will be great to see Polly make an appearance. What an excellent professional, the only Latics players to have been with the club since their first Premier League season.