Wigan Athletic host Horwich based Bolton Wanderers at the DW Stadium on Saturday.  Both clubs are needing a morale boosting victory as the battle to scrape out of the basement of the top flight begins in earnest with this game.

The Wanderers are at rock bottom with three points whilst Latics are third from bottom with two points more to their credit.  Sandwiched between the two teams is a third North West outfit, Blackburn Rovers.

Manager Roberto Martinez is expected to keep the faith with the side that completed the Aston Villa game two weeks ago, as defender Antolin Alcaraz and striker Hugo Rodallega remain on the sidelines due to injury.

As for the visitors they will be boosted by the possible return of three of their mainstays.  Goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen is likely to start following his recovery from a thigh injury sustained against Arsenal several weeks ago, whilst Ivan Klasnic and David Wheater have served their suspensions.  Also in contention for at least a place on the Trotters bench is loanee Gael Kakuta, who has finally received clearance to play following his move from Chelsea.

Latics goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi will be facing his former club for the first time since he arrived at the DW Stadium at the start of last season, having been ineligible to play against his parent club in four League and Cup clashes last term, none of which Latics won!

Hopefully he will be the difference on Saturday between the home faithful celebrating or drowning their sorrows come 5-00pm on Saturday.

Team news later…

History of this fixture,
11/05/1982 – John Brown Testimonial – (H) – 1-0 – (Mark Wignall) – 2,500
Brown, McMahon, Glenn, Cribley, Davids, Methven, O’Keefe, Barrow, Butler, Houghton, Wignall

16/08/1983 – Lancashire Cup – Springfield Park – 0-0

26/12/1983 – Division Three – (H) – 0-1 – 10,045
Tunks, Cribley, Aspinall, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Langley, Barrow, Johnson, Lowe, Butler
(The match attendance remained a club record for any Football League game played at Springfield Park)

21/04/1984 – Division Three – (A) – 1-0 – (Steve Johnson) – 6,142
Tunks, Cribley, Aspinall, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Langley, Barrow, Johnson, Lowe, Butler

26/12/1984 – Division Three – (H) – 1-0 – (Gerry McElhinney og) – 8,871
Tunks, Cribley, Butler, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Jewell, (Lowe), Barrow, Johnson, Newell, Langley

06/04/1985 – Division Three – (A) – 0-1 – 6,067
Stewart, Butler, Knowles, Kelly, (Bruce), Walsh, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Newell, Jewell, Langley

01/01/1986 – Division Three – (A) – 2-1 – (Mike Newell, Graham Barrow) – 9,252
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Kelly, Beesley, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Newell, Aspinall, (Langley), Griffiths

29/03/1986 – Division Three – (H) – 1-3 – (Colin Methven) – 8,009
Tunks, Cribley, Knowles, Kelly, Walsh, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Aspinall, Langley, (Jewell), Griffiths
(Future Latic Dave Felgate played for the Trotters)

06/05/1986 – Associate Members Cup, NF 1 – (H) – 0-1 – 6,975
Tunks, Cribley, Knowles, Bailey, Beesley, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Jewell, (Cook), Langley, Griffiths
(Future Latics Dave Felgate and Wayne Entwistle played for the Trotters)

09/05/1986 – Associate Members Cup, NF 2 – (A) – 1-2 (Paul Jewell) – 12120
Tunks, Cribley, Knowles, (Walsh), Bailey, Beesley, Methven, Lowe, Barrow, Jewell, Langley, Griffiths

16/08/1986 – Lancashire Cup – (A) – 4-3 – (Paul Jewell, David Lowe, Chris Thompson, Paul Beesley) – 1,943
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Cook, Schofield, Beesley, Lowe, Thompson, Jewell, Lowey, Houston
(In goal for the Trotters was future Latic Simon Farnworth)

26/09/1986 – Division Three – (H) – 2-1 – (Chris Thompson, Paul Cook) – 4,986
Tunks, Butler, Hilditch, Hamilton, Cribley, Beesley, Lowe, Thompson, Jewell, Houston, Cook

07/04/1987 – Division Three – (A) – 2-1 – (Bobby Campbell, Paul Jewel) – 5,321
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Hamilton, Cribley, Beesley, Lowe, Hilditch, Campbell, Jewell, Griffiths

18/08/1987 – League Cup, 1.1 – (H) – 2-3 – (Bobby Campbell, Chris Thompson) – 4,115
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Hamilton, Griffiths, (Hilditch), Beesley, Storer, Thompson, Campbell, Jewell, Cook
(Bryan Griffith’s first game for the club)
(Future Latic Dave Felgate played for the Trotters)

25/08/1987 – League Cup, 1.2 – (A) – 3-1 – (Bobby Campbell 3) – 5,847
Tunks, Butler, Knowles, Hamilton, Cribley, Beesley, Storer, (Griffiths), Thompson, Campbell, Jewell, Cook, (Hilditch)
(Future Latic Dave Felgate played for the Trotters)

11/08/1988 – Lancashire Cup – (Boundary Park) – 0-1

25/10/1988 – Division Three – (H) – 1-1 – (Wayne Entwistle) – 4,438
Adkins, Atherton, Senior, Hamilton, Beesley, Holden, Thompson, Pilling, Butler, Entwistle, Rimmer

09/05/1989 – Division Three – (A) – 1-1 – (Dave Thompson) – 6,166
Adkins, Senior, Tankard, Atherton, Beesley, Pilling, (McEwan), Thompson, Johnson, Woods, Page, (Entwistle), Griffiths

08/08/1989 – Lancashire Cup – (H) – 1-0

07/10/1989 – Division Three – (A) – 2-3 – (Mark Hilditch, og) – 6,462
Adkins, Senior, Tankard, Rimmer, Atherton, Beesley, Ward. (Fallon), Pilling, McGarvey, Hilditch, Griffiths, (Carberry)
(Debut for Tony Ward)

05/12/1989 – Associate Members Cup, prelim – (H) – 1-0 – (Phil Daley) – 2,306
Hughes, Senior, Tankard, Taylor, (Johnson), Atherton, Patterson, Carberry, Rimmer, Pilling, (Griffiths), Daley, Thompson
(Debut for Colin Taylor)

16/03/1990 – Division Three – (H) – 2-0 – (Bryan Griffiths og) – 6,850
Hughes, Senior, Tankard, Parkinson, Atherton, Johnson, Thompson, Rimmer, Pilling, Daley, Griffiths

11/08/1990 – Lancashire Cup – (H) – 0-0

28/09/1990 – Division Three – (H) – 2-1 – (Bryan Griffiths (pen), Darren Patterson) – 4,388
Adkins, Parkinson, Tankard, Atherton, Patterson, Langley, Woods, Rimmer, Daley, (Rogerson 73), Page, (Fairclough 82), Griffiths B (Kevin Langley’s second Latics debut)

16/03/1991 – Division Three – (A) – 1-2 – (Bryan Griffiths (pen)) – 7,812
Hughes, Patterson, Tankard, Atherton, Johnson, Langley, Jones, Pilling, Powell, Page, (Griffiths B), Carberry

10/08/1991 – Lancashire Cup – (A) – 1-0

21/09/1991 – Division Three – (A) – 1-1 – (Tony Kelly og) – 6,923
Adkins, Jones, Tankard, Johnson, Widdrington, Langley, Powell, Rimmer, Patterson, Worthington, Griffiths, (Carberry)

18/04/1992 – Division Three – (H) – 1-1 – (Gary Worthington) – 3,557
Adkins, Parkinson, Tankard, Johnson, Skipper, Langley, Jones, Pilling, Daley, Worthington, (Powell), Patterson
(Future Latics Scott Green and Mark Seagraves played for the Trotters)

26/12/1992 – Division Two – (A) – 1-2 – (Gary Powell) – 11,493
Pennock, Doolan, Tankard, Johnson, Appleton, Langley, Skipper, Cooper, Pilling, (Worthington), Griffiths, (Appleton)
(Debut for Steve Cooper)

10/04/1993 – Division Two – (H) – 0-2 – 5,408
Adkins, Powell, Tankard, Johnson, Jones, Garnett, Skipper, Pilling, Daley, White, Griffiths, (Powell), (Sharratt)

02/10/2005 – The Premiership – (H) – 2-1 – (Henri Camara, Lee McCulloch) – 20,553
Filan, Chimbonda, (Taylor, 22), De Zeeuw, Henchoz, Baines, Bullard, Kavanagh, Francis, McCulloch, Roberts, Camara

20/12/2005 – League Cup, 4 – (H) – 2-0 – (Jason Roberts 2) – 13,401
Filan, Jackson, Baines, Mahon, (Teale, 69), Kavanagh, Francis, McCulloch, Johansson, (Camara, 69), Roberts

04/02/2

006 – The Premiership – (A) – 1-1 – (Andreas Johnasson) – 25,845
Pollitt, Chimbonda, Henchoz, De Zeeuw, Baines, (Thompson, 65), Teale, Kavanagh, Scharner, Ziegler, Bullard, Mellor, (Johansson, 65)

04/11/2006 – The Premiership – (A) – 1-0 – (Lee McCulloch) – 21,255
Kirkland, Boyce, Webster, De Zeeuw, Baines, Teale, (Cotterill 33), Landzaat, Scharner, Kilbane, Heskey, (McCulloch 28), Camara, (Johansson 88)

07/04/2007 – The Premiership – (H) – 1-3 – (Emile Heskey) – 18,610
Filan, Taylor, Jackson, Hall, Baines, Valencia, Scharner, Skoko, (Cotterill 74), McCulloch, Heskey, Folan, (Camara 63)
(Ex Latic David Thompson played for the Trotters)

09/12/2007 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-4 – (Denny Landzaat) – 20,309
Kirkland, Boyce, Granqvist, Bramble, Kilbane, Valencia, Scharner, Landzaat, Koumas, Heskey, (Brown 72), Bent

16/03/2008 – The Premier League – (H) – 1-0 – (Emile Heskey) – 17.055
Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Scharner, Edman, Valencia, Palacios, (Taylor), Brown, Koumas (sent off), Heskey, King, (Kilbane)
(Future Latics loanee goalkeeper Ali-Al Habsi played for the Trotters)

28/12/2008 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-0 – (Amr Zaki (pen)) – 23,726
Pollitt, Melchiot, Scharner, Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Palacios, Taylor, (Kilbane 86), Heskey, (Camara 33), Zaki, (Brown 90)

02/05/2009 – The Premier League – (H) – 0-0 – 18,655
Kirkland, Melchiot, (Boyce 46), Scharner, (Edman 53), Bramble, Figueroa, Valencia, Cattermole, Brown, N’Zogbia, Mido, (Zaki 75), Rodallega

17/02/2010 – The Premier League – (H) – 0-0 – 18,089
Kirkland, Melchiot, Caldwell, Bramble, (Scotland 51), Figueroa, N’Zogbia, Scharner, Diame, Moreno, (Moses 80), Rodallega, McCarthy

13/03/2010 – The Premier League – (A) – 0-4 – 20,053
Kirkland, Boyce, Caldwell, Bramble, Figueroa, N’Zogbia, Diame, McCarthy, Scharner, (Scotland 54), Moses, (Gomez 54), Rodallega, (Thomas 78)

23/10/2010 – The Premier League – (H) – 1-1 – (Hugo Rodallega) – 17,100
Kirkland, Boyce, (Stam 52), Caldwell S, Alcaraz, Figueroa, N’Zogbia, McCarthy, (Diame 30), Thomas, Gomez, (Cleverley 83), Di Santo, Rodallega

05/01/2011 – The Premier League – (A) – 1-1 – (Ronnie Stam) – 18,852
Kirkland, (Pollitt 62), Caldwell G, Alcaraz, Figueroa, Stam, Thomas, Watson, McArthur, Cleverley, (Diame 12), Rodallega

29/01/2011 – FA Cup, 4 – (A) – 0-0 – 14,950
Pollitt, Boyce, Caldwell G, Piscu, Figueroa, Moses, (Di Santo 72), Diame, Watson, McArthur, (McCarthy 72), Gomez, McManaman

16/02/2011 – FA Cup 4, replay – (H) – 0-1 – 7,515
Pollitt, Stam, Caldwell S, Caldwell G, Piscu, Gomez, Thomas, Diame, McArthur, Di Santo, McManaman, (Moses 43)

09/08/2011 – Lancashire Senior Cup, 1 – (CP) – 0-0 (Latics win 4-3 pens) (Daniel Redmond, Adam Buxton, Jordan Rugg, Roman Golobart)
Kirkland, Stam, (Buxton 50), Mustoe, Golobart, Robinson, Chow, Myler, Dawson, (Watson R 73), Rodallega, (Rugg 60), Boothman, Redmond

Wigan Athletic/Bolton Wanderers links,

Ali Al-Habsi, Thomas Atkin, Johnny Ball, Malcolm Barrass, Arthur Barnard, Stan Bentham (trial for Bolton), Brian Bromley, Tommy Butler, Steve Caldwell (trial at Bolton), Paul Comstive, Ernie Corfield, Pete Cowper (trial for Bolton), Dean Crombie, Dave Crompton, Dennis Crompton, Walter Crook, Carl Davenport, George Eastham, Wayne Entwistle, Simon Farnworth, Gareth Farrelly, Dave Felgate, Bob Finan (wartime guest for Bolton), Per Frandsen, Geoff Gay, Scott Green, Ken Grieves, Ralph Gubbins, Derek Hennin, Norman Heslop (wartime guest for Bolton), John Higgins, Peter Higham, Steve ‘Mandy’ Hill, George Jones, Paul Jones, Tony Kelly, David Lee, Paul Lodge, Dave Lyon, Andy May, Dave McKearney, Ian McNeill (scouted for Bolton), Tommy Neill, Bob Pryde (wartime guest for Bolton), Neil Redfearn, Dave Redfern, Eric Redrobe, Bruce Rioch, Mark Seagraves, Ian Seddon, Geoff Sleight, Sammy Speakman, Stuart Storer, Greg Strong, Steve Taylor, Emerson Thome, Chris Thompson, David Thompson, Gavin Ward, Stuart Whittaker, Roy Wilkinson, Tom Woodward

Other Wigan/Bolton links,

Jack Bruton, James Carney, Pete Cowper, William Crewe, Richard Gaskell, Herbert Simpson, Thomas Eatock, William Herbert, Edward Seabrook and Samuel Sharp all played for Wigan Borough and Bolton Wanderers.  Richard Smith played for Wigan County and Bolton Wanderers

Did you know – that Australian born former Trotters and Latics goalkeeper, Ken Grieves, was one of Lancashire’s longest serving professional cricketers with 452 first-class appearances to his credit? His tally of 555 catches is also a club record that looks as though it will never be beaten!

 

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