Wigan Athletic – Birmingham City Preview: Premier League strugglers aim to put winless streaks behind them

Premier League: Roberto Martinez – Wigan Athletic West Ham United (Getty Images)

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• Wigan are currently bottom of the Premier League table and have gone four games without a win, and have suffered three consecutive defeats against Manchester United, Manchester City and Bolton.

• Wigan’s last victory at home was a 4-3 thriller against Blackburn on February 5, however they have only won three games at home all season and the Rovers win is there only win at the DW Stadium since mid-November. One thing that will lift the Latics fans is that the other two victories at home have come against West Midlands teams, Wolves and West Brom.

• It will be the eighth meeting against Birmingham in the Premier League, and the Latics have only won one of those games. That came in April 2008 when they recorded a 2-0 at home thanks to a brace from Ryan Taylor.

• Wigan have not scored in their last three matches, so they will be hoping top scorer Hugo Rodallega rediscovers his goal scoring form having netted seven times this season.

• Manager Roberto Martinez only has one player struggling with injury, which is Emmerson Boyce, who picked up a hamstring injury three weeks ago.

• Birmingham are currently in 17th position in the table, and are only out of the relegation zone on goal difference. They have only won away from home twice this season, at Blackpool and West Ham, which will make their challenge much tougher.

• Birmingham won on their last visit to the DW Stadium, a 3-2 victory in December 2009, thanks to two goals from Seb Larsson and a winner from Christian Benitez. However, it is their only win at Wigan in the Premier League.

• Alex McLeish’s men have not won since their League Cup triumph against Arsenal, drawing once and losing twice. They are also on a run of three games without a win in the league.

• The Blues face a selection headache with a busy treatment room at St Andrew’s. Alex McLeish has nine players on the sidelines at the moment, including influential midfielder Craig Gardner and captain Stephen Carr.

• Something of concern to all involved with the club is that they have scored the fewest number of goals in the Premier League this season. They have only managed 27 so far, and they average just one goal per away game.

September 25, 2010: Birmingham City 0-0 Wigan Athletic

Wigan’s trip to the West Midlands earlier this season ended in a goalless stalemate. In fact, the only real incidents came in the closing minutes of the match with Hugo Rodallega nearly snatching victory before Craig Gardner was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Franco di Santo in the 89th minute.