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Championship

Jan 31, 2015 at 3pm UK

Ipswich Ipswich Town
0-0
Wigan Wigan Athletic

Preview: Ipswich Town vs. Wigan Athletic

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 29 January 2015

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between title-chasing Ipswich Town and relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic at Portman Road.

Two sides at opposite ends of the Championship table will go head to head on Saturday as title-chasing Ipswich Town host relegation-threatened Wigan Athletic at Portman Road.

The home side go into the match as heavy favourites but may be wary of a potential upset following a run of three defeats in their last four games and just one win in five.

Despite that, the Tractor Boys remain in a strong position to continue their bid for automatic promotion, with just one point separating them from league leaders Bournemouth.

However, they do have inferior goal difference to the three teams above them in the table, so Mick McCarthy could be beginning to look at that factor as a very tight promotion battle continues to evolve.

This weekend could well provide a big opportunity for Ipswich to steal a march on those around them in the table, with four members of the top six playing each other.

If they are to capitalise on any slip-ups then they will need to improve upon their 3-2 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion last Wednesday, a match that saw the struggling Seagulls score all of their goals inside the opening 45 minutes.

McCarthy's side do, however, boast the best home record in the Championship this season, losing just twice in front of their own fans and dropping only 10 points overall.

They have lost their last two at Portman Road, though, with Derby County edging to a 1-0 victory earlier in the month before Southampton won by the same scoreline in an FA Cup replay four days later.

The Tractor Boys will be hoping that the league's top scorer Daryl Murphy can add to his 18 goals already this season, with the striker having scored seven and assisted two more in his last eight league games for the club.

He is once again expected to lead the line this weekend, and he could be joined by the returning David McGoldrick. New boy Freddie Sears is also pushing for a start having scored off the bench last time out, but he is likely to feature as a sub again.

Luke Hyam, who scored in Ipswich's 2-1 victory over Wigan in the reverse fixture, is sidelined for McCarthy's side, and the match is also likely to come too soon for Jack Collison despite his recent return to training.

In contrast to Ipswich, who have arguably punched above their pre-season expectations this season, Wigan's situation towards the bottom of the table continues to get more and more worrying.

The Latics are now eight points adrift of safety and, having been tipped by some for automatic promotion, face the very real threat of relegation to League One if results don't improve quickly.

Their plight has led to a number of players jumping ship, with Callum McManaman, Shaun Maloney, Ivan Ramis, Ben Watson and Adam Forshaw all leaving the club within the last seven days.

It is hard to blame them for looking elsewhere when Wigan have won just once under Malky Mackay and picked up only six points from the last 39 on offer in the Championship.

The latest disappointment came at home to Huddersfield Town last Saturday as the Latics fell to a late 1-0 defeat at the DW Stadium, and things haven't been any better on the road either.

Wigan have lost six of their last seven away games and have managed just two wins and eight points on the road all season, the third worst record in the division.

With so many players having departed, Mackay is faced with a depleted attacking line, although new loan signing Chris Herd could feature at some point.

Whatever happens, we can expect goals from this one - there has never been a 0-0 draw between these two sides at Portman Road.

Ipswich:

Form in Championship: WWWLWL
Form in all competitions: WDLLWL

Possible starting lineup: Bialkowski; Smith, Berra, Chambers, Mings; Anderson, Bishop, Skuse, Hunt; Murphy, McGoldrick

Wigan:

Form in Championship: LWLLDL
Form in all competitions: WLLLDL

Possible starting lineup: Carson; Perch, Barnett, Ridgewell, Taylor; Cowie, Huws, McCann, Waghorn, McClean; Fortune

Sports Mole says: 3-1