City made it successive 2-0 wins in midweek by beating Tottenham’s youngsters by that scoreline in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday, so it’s in optimistic mood that Gary Caldwell’s side travels up to the north west on Saturday. Caldwell was able to rest a number of key players on Tuesday, with coach David Perkins coming on to become City’s oldest ever player at 42, but it was other players such as Pedro Borges and Jake Richards (recording his first goal in City colours with a stunning free kick) who will have given Caldwell food for thought as he manages his squad in a busy period. Reece Cole was a notable absentee against Stevenage last week as he battles niggling injuries that have hampered him so far this season, but he will hope to make the trip.
Unlike City, Wigan needed to be closer to full strength on Tuesday night as they were in league action against the side that lost at the Park last Saturday – Stevenage faring better this time in a 0-0 draw with the Latics. It has been an up and down season so far for Shaun Moloney’s side, but that 0-0 draw extended Wigan’s unbeaten run to three, all with clean sheets albeit two of them draws. Their wins this season have been against Crawley and a 4-0 thumping of Matt Taylor’s Bristol Rovers meaning Saturday’s fixture will not be one to be taken lightly. The summer saw Wigan sign two players who were with City last season – Chelsea loanee Dion Rankine made a permanent switch to the third tier, while former skipper Will Aimson headed back north after his spell at City saw him bear the brunt of a lot of the supporters’ frustration with the side’s mid-season slump in form. Although he recovered to finish strongly, Caldwell noted that he had expressed his desire to leave when he was a target of sections of the support – perhaps this will lead to a similarly frosty reception when he takes the field on Saturday. The main goal threat is likely to come from Joe Hugill, who has three goals in all competitions so far.
The sides met three times last season, and each time it was the away side who essentially smashed and grabbed. The corresponding fixture finished 2-1 to City to gain revenge for successive two dates in the space of a couple of weeks at the Park in league and FA Cup. Mo Eisa gave what proved to be something of a false dawn with the opener, a lead doubled by Aitchison before Wigan pulled one back through Kelman. The league fixture at the Park saw City have 72% possession, 18 shots and 17 corners, all for nought as goals from Godo and Jones sealed the points, while the FA Cup match was somewhat closer but with the same outcome with second half goals from Aasgaard and Sessegnon. Wigan have a healthy league head to head lead in this fixture, 11 wins to City’s four, with just three matches finishing level.
The match officials for this game will be:-
Referee: Scott Simpson
Assistant Referees: Conor Brown and Adam Burgess
Fourth Official : Darren Drysdale
Scott Simpson has taken charge of just the one Exeter game, in January of this year when we drew 0-0 with Cambridge United at the Park. He refereed 26 games last season, showing 127 yellow cards and brandishing 10 red cards.
Interview with Gary Caldwell
Interview with Kamari Doyle
