Wigan Athletic v Aston Villa preview

By Neil Gunner
November 18 2006

Wigan Athletic hope to make it five wins in a row as they take on fourth place Aston Villa at the JJB stadium in front of the Sky cameras on Sunday.

Wigan head into this game on the back of four consecutive wins which has kickstarted the latics season into life after a somewhat disappointing start.Wigan striker Emile Heskey and skipper Arjan de Zeeuw are serious doubts.

Heskey has sat out training with a calf problem and De Zeeuw has a toe injury. Leighton Baines (calf) and David Cotterill (groin) are also struggling.

Fitz Hall may be rushed back into the squad despite being out for nearly a month to provide cover.

Aston Villa skipper Gareth Barry is expected to return from a bruised back but Gavin McCann is suspended.

Gary Cahill is again set to partner Liam Ridgewell at the heart of the defence with Olof Mellberg deputising at right-back for Aaron Hughes (groin).

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Probable teams :

Wigan : Kirkland, Filan, Boyce, Webster, Jackson, de Zeeuw(possible), Baines, Cotterill, Landzaat, Scharner, Kilbane, Heskey(late fitness test), McCulloch, Camara, Johansson, Valencia, Todorov.

Aston Villa : Sorensen, Taylor, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Cahill, Bouma, Agbonlahor, Barry, Petrov, Davis, Osbourne, Baros, Angel, Sutton, Agathe, Whittingham, Gardner, Hughes.

REFEREE
Steve Bennett (Orpington, Kent)


Jewell on latics this week :

"The confidence in our dressing room is really high. We've shown that we have players who can hurt teams and I want them to continue believing in themselves. I've asked for more resilience from the players and they've given me that".

Paul praised his players last week for the win over Charlton but was also disappointed to concede two goals on the day. The wind played a major factor throughout the game but at premiership level this natural occurance shouldn't be an excuse.

Score prediction :

Wigan Athletic 2 Aston Villa 1