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Mar 29, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
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Preview: Bolton Wanderers vs. Wigan Athletic

:Headline: Preview: Bolton Wanderers vs. Wigan Athletic: ID:146688: from db_amp
Sports Mole looks ahead to Saturday's Championship clash between Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic at the Reebok.

Wigan Athletic will be looking to get back to winning ways at the first time of asking when they travel to the Reebok Stadium to take on Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.

The Latics saw their 10-match unbeaten streak come to an end on Tuesday as fellow promotion hopefuls Queens Park Rangers edged to a 1-0 win at Loftus Road despite having a man sent off late on.

Just three defeats in 24 matches is still a formidable record, however, and as a result of that Wigan can afford one or two slip-ups and still be confident of making the playoffs.

They currently sit five points clear of seventh-placed Nottingham Forest and have the luxury of a game in hand over the teams around them in the table, making Uwe Rosler's side strong favourites to still be in the top six at the end of the season.

However, Rosler will be thankful that his side's defeat in midweek went unpunished, with Reading, Forest and Brighton & Hove Albion also losing.

That loss was an increasingly rare blot on Wigan's copybook away from home, where they had strung together a run of six straight wins before Tuesday.

The worry for Rosler now will be ensuring that his side don't let their minds drift to a Wembley FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal next month as they still have plenty to fight for in the league.

Amidst a busy fixture schedule it will come as welcome news for the Latics that long-term absentees Shaun Maloney and Gary Caldwell are nearing fitness again, but Ben Watson and Chris McCann are both still out.

Bolton have been in impressive form themselves in recent weeks, with Tuesday's 1-0 victory over Blackpool making it just one defeat in eight for the Trotters.

Such a spell could not have come at a better time for the club, who have now moved away from the relegation zone and should be safe from the drop, barring an unlikely set of results.

With vastly superior goal difference to the majority of the teams below them, as well as a 12-point gap to the bottom three, manager Dougie Freedman can now breathe a little easier and start planning for next season.

Of course, he will not fully relax until it is mathematically impossible for his side to be relegated, but consigning Wigan to a second consecutive defeat - something that hasn't happened since December - could lift them as high as 14th in the table.

Three wins and three clean sheets in their last four home outings certainly suggests that they could get something out of the game, but they have not beaten any of the current top 10 at the Reebok so far this season.

Bolton could name an unchanged lineup from their midweek win, with Alex Baptiste still unavailable through suspension and Stuart Holden and Marc Tierney out injured.

Recent form

Bolton: WWDLDW

Wigan: WWWDWL

Possible starting lineups

Bolton: Bogdan; Hutton, Knight, Wheater, Ream; Danns, Medo, Spearing, Davies; Jutkiewicz, Mason

Wigan: Al-Habsi; Perch, Barnett, Ramis, Beausejour; McArthur, Collison; McClean, Gomez, Waghorn; Fortune

Sports Mole says: 0-2


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CPortsmouth462813578413797
3Bolton WanderersBolton462512986513587
4Peterborough UnitedPeterborough462591289612884
5Oxford UnitedOxford Utd4622111379562377
6Barnsley4621131282641876
7Lincoln CityLincoln4620141265402574
8Blackpool4621101565481773
9Stevenage4619141357461171
10Wycombe WanderersWycombe461714156055565
11Leyton Orient461811175355-265
12Wigan AthleticWigan462010166356762
13Exeter CityExeter461710194661-1561
14Northampton TownNorthampton46179205766-960
15Bristol Rovers46169215268-1657
16Charlton AthleticCharlton461120156465-153
17Reading461611196870-253
18Cambridge UnitedCambridge461212223961-2248
19Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury46139243567-3248
20Burton Albion461210243967-2846
RCheltenham TownCheltenham46128264165-2444
RFleetwood TownFleetwood461013234972-2343
RPort Vale461011254174-3341
RCarlisle UnitedCarlisle4679304181-4030
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