Next Up: Wigan Athletic vs Exeter City

City returned immediately to winning ways following the blip against Bristol Rovers, taking advantage of Peterborough being reduced to ten men to come back from behind to win. Gary Caldwell welcomed Will Aimson back to the side on Tuesday night although it wasn’t a particularly happy night for the former skipper as he gave away the penalty that gave Peterborough the lead. Pierce Sweeney is likely to return to the starting line-up at Wigan on Saturday while Caldwell now has a huge squad to choose from with only a couple of players out injured.

The big news around Wigan’s transfer window was the departure of Callum Lang to Portsmouth, a sign that perhaps the Latics aren’t entirely out of the woods yet as far as their financial issues are concerned. A number of players were loaned out in January too, most notably Charlie Wyke to Rotherham, while manager Sean Moloney brought in a trio of loanees in Charlie Goode, Luke Chambers and Charlie Kelman. Like City, Wigan have hit some decent form of late to pull away from the relegation zone, with three wins in their last four including their own victory over high-flying Peterborough last Saturday. Stephen Humphrys is now the chief goal threat since Wyke’s departure, he has nine in all competitions, while Sam Tickle in goal has been impressive.

City will travel to the north west on something of a revenge mission having felt they didn’t get the results the balance of play deserved either in the league meeting at the Park nor the FA Cup fixture a couple of weeks later, both of which finished 2-0 to the visitors. The league match saw Wigan lead early through Godo, but despite total dominance in the second half (72% possession, 18 shots, 17 corners) City couldn’t get the equaliser and Wigan added a second through a breakaway goal from Jordan Jones at the death. City again felt hard done by in the FA Cup match, second half goals from Aasgard and Sessegnon sealing Wigan’s passage to an eventual tie against Manchester United. Saturday marks City’s first trip to the DW Stadium, as their last visit to Wigan was in the old Springfield Park days, Wigan winning 2-0 through Lancashire and Jones in October 1996 on their way to promotion from the fourth tier. Indeed, Wigan have a strong league head to head lead, winning 11 times to City’s three, with a further three matches finishing level.

The match officials for this game will be:-

Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistant Referees: Mark Cunliffe and Karl Buckley
Fourth Official : Kenwyn Hughes

Alex Cholowicz normally referees in the USA in the MLS but has transferred to the EFL. It’s his first time refereeing Exeter City.

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