Football News

Bolton Wanderers face north-west neighbours Wigan Athletic on Saturday afternoon at the Reebok Stadium with both clubs fighting at the wrong end of the table.

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Owen Coyle's men will be striving to get back to winning ways following their Tuesday night horror show at Sunderland.

They crashed 4-0 at the Stadium of Light, with striker Darren Bent netting a hat-trick. To make matters worse, Sam Ricketts was dismissed after collecting two yellow cards and will miss the weekend clash.

The Trotters sit five points ahead of the relegation zone, thanks in the main to a recent resurgence and are no longer one of the 188BET favourites to be relegated.

Back-to-back wins prior to their Wearside disaster have aided their challenge to beat the drop. They beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 on February 27 before grabbing a fine 2-1 away-day success at West Ham United last weekend.

Bolton have a number of injury concerns ahead of the game with Gary Cahill (arm), Stuart Holden (broken leg), Mark Davies, Chris Basham and Sean Davis (all knee) all missing.

One win doesn't make a season but it has certainly helped Wigan feel better about the direction theirs is now heading.

Monday's 1-0 victory over Liverpool has provided a massive shot in the arm for the Latics, who had looked like being dragged into the relegation mire before Hugo Rodallega's match-winner at the DW Stadium.

Fifteenth-placed Wigan are still too close to the relegation zone for comfort, but the four-point cushion they now enjoy has lifted the mood dramatically.

"We were worthy winners and that speaks volumes about the character of the players," declared manager Roberto Martinez. "This standard is something we need to show week in, week out."

Martinez has no fresh injury concerns to contend with after midfielder James McCarthy shrugged off an ankle problem to play 90 minutes against Liverpool.

However, those hoping for goals might be better looking elsewhere as this fixture between two local rivals has a habit of being cagey.

They drew 0-0 at the Reebok Stadium last month in a rearranged fixture and the previous three meetings have seen just two goals in total.

One of those was a 1-0 win for the Latics in Bolton last season courtesy of a winner from former on-loan striker Amr Zaki.