Wigan take on struggling Shrewsbury this weekend – the first meeting between the two sides since 1994 – in another big week for the club.
The Shrews make the trip to the DW for the very first time and for their first league game since October 31 due to a postponement during the international fixtures.
Wigan, on a 10-game unbeaten run, will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start at home in the league and continue their good recent form, where they sit in fifth position in SkyBet League One.
Shrewsbury are looking for their first away win since the start of September and are precariously placed in 19th position just one point above the relegation zone.
SkyBet League One comes to the fore again over the coming weeks with each team playing three matches in the next seven days.
And with two of the teams directly above them, Coventry and Gillingham, playing each other on Saturday, Wigan manager Gary Caldwell knows they must capitalise.
“We know it’s a big week but it starts on Saturday and we know we must get a win to start it off well,” he said.
“It is an opportunity for us with teams playing each other in the places round about us but we have to keep winning our own games, it is as simple as that.”
Wigan’s Will Grigg, who was back on the bench at Rochdale after international duty with Northern Ireland, may have to make do with a place on the bench as loanee Alex Revell eyes a home debut.
The international break may have come at an unwanted time with the club on such a rich vein of form but Caldwell seems to have used the time off to his advantage.
“We’ve worked really hard,” he said. “Some players needed the time to recover and others needed some hard work.
“We’ve worked on different things that we feel we can improve on and we’re ready for another game on Saturday.”
Shrewsbury striker Akpa Akpro had been given leave to sort out personal issues which saw him miss the FA Cup win at Gainsborough but has trained during the international break.
Defender Jermaine Grandison has returning to training after recovering from a back injury which has sidelined him for the last six games.
Image courtesy of Wigan Athletic via YouTube, with thanks.
