Bolton Wanderers vs Wigan Athletic; Sky Bet Championship
Bolton Wanderers vs Wigan Athletic. Sky Bet Championship.
Toughsheet Community StadiumAttendance15,237.
Bolton vs Wigan preview
Thursday 29 November 2018 18:13, UK
Phil Parkinson has decisions to make as he looks to address Bolton's dismal form against neighbours Wigan.
Wanderers have taken only two points from their last nine games to slump to 23rd in the Championship table, scoring just two goals in the process. Yanic Wildschut failed to impress on a rare start in Tuesday's loss to Sheffield Wednesday while Sammy Ameobi and Josh Magennis drew a blank up front.
Parkinson could give a chance to Christian Doidge or Clayton Donaldson, while Will Buckley was on the bench on Tuesday after being forced off during last weekend's draw at Millwall.
Wigan must once again wait on Nick Powell's hamstring after the playmaker limped off for the second time in two games. Powell was cleared fit to play in Wednesday's win over Blackburn, despite failing to complete the previous game against Reading, but lasted only 22 minutes.
Josh Windass excelled in his absence and is an obvious replacement, while James Vaughan and Lee Evans will hope to keep their places after coming into the side. Wigan continue to battle injury problems, with Gavin Massey, Michael Jacobs, Chey Dunkley and Antonee Robinson all sidelined.
Opta stats
Bolton and Wigan haven't met at the Macron Stadium since January 2015, when the Trotters won 1-0 in an FA Cup tie.
Wigan have won two of their last 14 matches against Bolton in all competitions (D7 L5).
Phil Parkinson and Paul Cook are set to meet in a third different division in just their seventh meeting - they faced four times in League Two in 2011-12 and 2012-13 and twice in League One in 2014-15.
Bolton are currently winless in nine games in the Championship (D2 L7), the worst on-going run in the division.
Wigan have lost each of their last seven away league games - defeat at Bolton would make it their worst ever run of losses on the road in the Football League. Wigan are the only side in the 2018-19 Championship to have lost every single match in which they have fallen behind (9/9).
Prutton's prediction
David Prutton predicts: 0-1 (13/2 with Sky Bet)
