Wigan Athletic vs Nottingham Forest. Sky Bet Championship.
DW StadiumAttendance11,543.
Friday 17 August 2018 13:31, UK
Wigan should be back to full strength against Nottingham Forest after making eight changes for their Carabao Cup duties in midweek.
The much-altered Latics lost 3-1 at Rotherham taking their goals conceded to eight in three games - making defender Dan Burn's ongoing injury absence a concern. Nathan Byrne could be ready to play his first minutes of the season after working back to fitness.
Summer signings Leonardo Da Silva and Kai Naismith all started in South Yorkshire but may have to settle for bench duty.
Forest are in a similar position after Aitor Karanka swapped his entire starting XI for a penalty victory over Bury.Most of those who were drafted in can expect to slip back out of the team but debutant Sam Byram, on loan from West Ham, impressed enough to hold the shirt.
Goalkeeper Jordan Smith was sent off in the first half of that match, meaning Luke Steele will shadow first-choice Costel Pantilimon. Ben Watson will be hoping to get a run out at a club who still remember him fondly for his FA Cup final winner in 2013.
Wigan have never lost at home against Nottingham Forest in any competition (W2 D4).
Nottingham Forest have failed to score in their last three matches at the DW Stadium in all competitions, last doing so in a 2-1 defeat in August 2013.
Wigan midfielder Nick Powell has been involved in five of the Latics' last six league goals (2 goals, 3 assists).
Aitor Karanka has never lost a Championship game against Wigan (P3 W1 D2 L0).
Wigan manager Paul Cook has ended on the losing side in just two of his last 30 home league matches as a manager (W19 D9).
Since a 5-2 win at QPR in February, Nottingham Forest have collected just three points from seven away league matches (P7 W0 D3 L4), scoring four goals.
David Prutton predicts: 2-2 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
