Wigan Athletic welcome a strong Peterborough United side to the DW Stadium in a rearranged League One clash on Tuesday night.
Peterborough are putting up a strong promotion push, and manager Darren Ferguson will hope to get one over on his Scottish compatriot Shaun Maloney in the opposing dugout here.
Match preview
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Despite a lowly league position, Wigan have shown promising signs of late, and responded well to a run of four straight league defeats in late September and early October.
Three consecutive 2-0 wins over Exeter City, Oxford United and Shrewsbury Town moved Maloney's side out of the relegation zone recently.
However, a very disappointing first-half performance saw them lose 3-2 in their last league outing against Charlton Athletic, as the Latics found themselves three-down at the interval.
That leaves them still level on points with Carlisle United, who occupy the final relegation place in League One at present, but Wigan have played one match fewer, placing huge importance on this clash.
Wigan did not waste any time in getting back to winning ways though, beating Exeter 2-0 once again in the FA Cup first round at the weekend.
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Peterborough did not enjoy a similar level of success in their respective FA Cup tie on Saturday, being held to a 2-2 draw by League Two Salford City, meaning they will have to go to the Peninsula Stadium for a replay next midweek.
Despite that disappointing result, the Posh are still unbeaten in 90 minutes across their last 13 matches, dating back to a 3-1 defeat at Fratton Park against league leaders Portsmouth on September 2.
That, at the time, was a third successive defeat for Ferguson, but his side have been imperious since, and nine of those 13 matches have come in the league, taking 19 points from a possible 27 in that spell.
Therefore, it is no surprise to find them in the playoff places, and just four points adrift of the automatic spots.
Peterborough avoided a late scare to beat 10-man Blackpool 4-2 at Bloomfield Road in their last league outing and to keep them within touching distance of the top two.
Team News
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Wigan boss Maloney went strong in his team selection for the FA Cup over the weekend, meaning there may be very few changes to the side here.
Steven Sessegnon returned from a minor injury to start at left-back and scored in the Exeter win, so he is set to keep his place in the side.
Fellow defender Sean Clare went off inside the opening 20 minutes, though, making him a doubt here, with Omar Rekik one of the candidates to potentially take his place.
Goalkeeper Sam Tickle, who has reportedly been attracting interest from Everton, kept his fourth clean sheet in five games at the weekend and should start again between the sticks.
Peterborough are set to be without Jeando Fuchs again as the Cameroonian has been missing since August with injury.
Ferguson has something of a selection headache in attack, as last season's top scorer Jonson Clarke-Harris is facing stiff competition from Ricky-Jade Jones.
Jones has now scored in three straight games, while Clarke-Harris is without a goal since September, but the manager may well find a way to accommodate both players.
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Tickle; Rekik, Hughes, Morrison; Jones, Shaw, Adeeko, Sessegnon; Aasgard, Wyke, Lang
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Bilokapic; Kioso, Knight, Edwards, Burrows; Kyprianou, Katongo, Poku; Jones, Clarke-Harris, Mason-Clark
We say: Wigan Athletic 0-1 Peterborough United
Recent meetings between the sides here have not been littered with goals, as there have been just three in the three meetings since Wigan dropped back into the third tier, including a 0-0 draw in 2018.
Peterborough have been a tough team to beat in the past two months, and despite facing a tricky midweek away trip, should have the firepower to claim three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Andrew Delaney
