Wigan vs Pompey Preview

Last updated : 19 October 2007 By Jim Bonner
A forty coach convoy will be making its way up to the JJB Stadium tomorrow as a Pompey team in high spirits take on a Wigan side who haven't won in seven Premier League outings.

That previous statistic won't add confidence to some of the Pompey fans though, as we have a knack of ending the bad runs of teams and last season it was us who fell to a 1-0 defeat in the fog to end Wigan's worst losing streak in their history.

However, we weren't on good form ourselves back then but this season we've been banging in goals for fun and have kept three consecutive clean sheets on the road. Wigan are missing Emile Heskey and are impotent up front, so I see no reason why we can't keep up our good form.

Harry Redknapp is set to name an unchanged side if possible. Sol Campbell has come back sore after his England exploits and has sat out training as a result. If Sol can't play then Noe Pamarot is set to deputise for him as Linvoy isn't quite ready yet.

Hermann Hreidarsson didn't feature at all for his country during the week and faces a late fitness test. If he's not declared fit I'd expect Djimi Traore to fill in for the Iceman who has been in good form for Pompey recently.

Kanu has an outside chance of making the game as he continues to recover from injury but I'm sure Benjani will start up front whatever happens as the Zimbabwean is on fire at the moment with 4 goals in 2 games.

Despite Wigan's problems, this still remains a tough fixture for us. The Latics have been solid at home and I thought they were very unlucky not to get a result against Liverpool in their last home game. I think this will be tougher than the game at Craven Cottage and we'll have to be at our best to take all three points.

These are the games we should be winning if we want to make a serious challenge for Europe and with over 3,500 fans making the trip to the JJB, it promises to be a great atmosphere in our end. Let's hope the team justify the support tomorrow!

Predicted Starting Line-Ups

Wigan

GK: Chris KIRKLAND

RB: Mario MELCHIOT
CB: Emerson BOYCE
CB: Andreas GRANQVIST
LB: Salomon OLEMBE

RM: Jason KOUMAS
CM: Paul SCHARNER
CM: Michael BROWN
LM: Luis Antonio VALENCIA

CF: Marcus BENT
CF: Julius AGHAHOWA

Bench: Mike POLLITT, Titus BRAMBLE, Denny LANDZAAT, Antoine SIBIERSKI, David COTTERILL

Pompey

GK: David JAMES

RB: Glen JOHNSON
CB: Sol CAMPBELL
CB: Sylvain DISTIN
LB: Hermann HREIDARSSON

RM: John UTAKA
CM: Papa BOUBA DIOP
CM: Sean DAVIS
CM: Sulley MUNTARI
LM: Niko KRANJCAR

CF: BENJANI

Bench: Jamie ASHDOWN, Noe PAMAROT, Pedro MENDES, Matthew TAYLOR, David NUGENT

Last Time: Wigan Athletic 1 Pompey 0

Pompey went down to a single goal in a dull, dreary game covered in fog. Lee McCulloch struck home the winner as Pompey never looked like getting anything from the game.

Pundit Watch

Lawro: Draw (1-1)
Sky Sports: Away Win (1-2)
Soccernet: Away Win
Footy-Mad: Away Win

My Prediction: Draw (0-0)