Wigan Athletic vs Birmingham City; Sky Bet Championship
Wigan Athletic vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
DW StadiumAttendance9,244.
Wigan vs Birmingham preview: Championship clash live on Sky Sports Action
Watch live on Sky Sports Action from 7.40pm on Tuesday
Tuesday 1 October 2019 09:06, UK
Wigan face Birmingham in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday. Coverage gets underway live on Sky Sports Action at 7.40pm; kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Team news
Wigan boss Paul Cook could be boosted by the return of four players for the clash with Birmingham. Midfield trio Josh Windass (calf), Gary Roberts and Anthony Pilkington (quad) are expected to be back in contention having resumed training after injury lay-offs.
Gavin Massey is also in contention having been rested for Latics' 2-0 loss to Fulham. Cook has confirmed that Michael Jacobs will be not risked after he was withdrawn at half-time against the Cottagers due to tightness in his hamstring.
Birmingham will have midfielder David Davis back in their squad. Davis missed the Blues' 3-2 defeat to Derby due to the birth of his child.
Manager Pep Clotet could also hand a first-team debut to midfielder Josh McEachran, who signed for the club last week. The 26-year-old has made a handful of appearances for the U23s since leaving Brentford in June.
Recent form
There's no doubting Birmingham are one of this season's surprise packages, but there's also no doubt for Blues boss Pep Clotet that September didn't end in the manner he might have hoped. Charlton were on the receiving end of their first post-international break win, but high-flying Preston took the points a week later. That was then compounded by the fact Lukas Jutkiewicz missed a penalty in Saturday's 3-2 defeat to Derby.
In spite of their widespread recruitment in the summer, Wigan are sitting tentatively above the Championship relegation zone, having won just once since the opening day. They've far from disgraced themselves, though, and took four points from a possible nine last month, which ended with a 2-0 defeat to Fulham. A week earlier, they coasted past Charlton following a 2-2 draw at Hull.
- Get a Sky Sports Day Pass for one-off payment of £9.99
- Championship fixtures | Championship table | Live on Sky
What the managers said...
Wigan boss Paul Cook: "It is a good game for us on Tuesday night. I watched Birmingham on Saturday and they should never have lost at Derby, that's how tough football can be. We have to win games; every club in the division has different aspirations and to fulfil your aspirations you must pick up points. And if you don't pick up points then you will find yourselves in trouble.
"Birmingham have got good players and carry a threat; they missed a penalty at 2-2 on Saturday that would have seen the game go in a completely different light. I certainly don't think Pep Clotet will be disappointed with the level of performance from Birmingham, that's for sure. He'll be disappointed with the result, because they should have got something out of the game."
Birmingham boss Pep Clotet: "One thing is for sure in the game and that is players make mistakes. And what is very important in a side is to have that ability and mentality to overcome a mistake, a setback. Everyone makes mistakes. But not everyone is able to stand up, go again and turn back a game in their favour. On Saturday I saw a big team play like a big team.
"We had a lot to show about going forward, attacking the box, creating chances. We managed to translate what we have been working on in training and analysing to the pitch. It was a massive step forward when it comes to understanding how Birmingham has to play away from home, whilst also trying to do better controlling the risks."
Talking point - McEachran looking to reignite career
Perhaps it could have been the pressure of being labelled the 'next big thing' during his time at Chelsea, but Birmingham's new signing Josh McEachran, it's fair to say, probably hasn't yet reached his full potential. During four seasons at Brentford, following his departure from Stamford Bridge in 2015, he made over 100 appearances and scored the only goal of his professional career.
He showed glimpses of the undeniable passing superiority he possesses over many but, in simple terms, he just failed to set the world alight. And so he was released in the summer and left on the annual free agent pile until last week, when the Blues brought him in after a lengthy trial. But with an already-packed midfield department, will the 26-year-old be able to shine through?
Latest highlights
Opta stats
Wigan have never lost consecutive home league games against Birmingham, losing 3-0 at the DW Stadium against the Blues last season.
Birmingham have won just two of their 14 league meetings with Wigan outside the top flight (W2 D7 L5).
Wigan have lost just one of their last 14 home league games (W7 D6), going down 0-2 against Leeds in August.
Birmingham have either kept a clean sheet (three shutouts) or conceded exactly three goals (three times) across their last six away league games.
More than half of Wigan's eight Championship goals this season have come from set-piece situations (5/8 - three from corners, two from free kicks).
David Prutton's prediction
This is exactly the type of game Wigan need to be winning if they are to stay up this season. They rely so much on their home form as we all know.
Birmingham were hit with an incredibly resilient performance from Derby on Saturday, and they have now lost two on the bounce. I reckon Wigan will make that three, but it won't be pretty!
Prutton predicts: 1-0 (13/2 with Sky Bet)
