After recording recent back-to-back wins in the Championship, Wigan Athletic were unable to make it three wins on the trot on the weekend when they were on the end of a 2-1 defeat at home to Preston North End, but they’ll be eager to get something out of this upcoming clash against Middlesbrough.
Recent and much-needed wins against Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United gave Wigan some hope of avoiding the drop and they find themselves still in the bottom three of the second tier but just 4 points adrift of struggling Charlton Athletic.
Although The Latics have lost 4 of their last 6 matches overall in the Championship, recent results on home turf at their DW Stadium suggest the hosts could get something out of this clash against Boro as Wigan have lost just 2 of their last 6 matches in their own backyard.
Wigan have picked up that win against Sheffield Wednesday as well as picking up points in draws with West Brom, Huddersfield Town and Derby County which also means that Wigan have drawn 3 of these last 6 home matches.
Onto Middlesbrough, and the previous impressive Jonathan Woodgate revolution up in the north-east has fallen by the wayside somewhat in recent weeks as Boro make their way to Wigan for Tuesday night’s clash on the back of 5 matches without a win in the Championship.
Middlesbrough have drawn 3 of these last 5 having shared the points with Derby County, Birmingham City and Blackburn Rovers, but all three of these stalemates were achieved at their Riverside Stadium.
Switch to results away from home and you’ll find that Boro have lost 4 of their last 7 matches on their travels, and this sort of form now seems light years away from their earlier purple patch which saw Middlesbrough win four on the trot.
Wins against Stoke City, Huddersfield Town, West Brom and Preston North End promised much but ultimately it seems that Boro have subsequently reverted to type.
Having managed to collect just 2 away wins out of their last 15 matches on the road in the Championship, Middlesbrough may well be happy to settle for a point at the DW Stadium on Tuesday night.
5 of the last 8 meetings between Wigan and Middlesbrough have ended in stalemate and these two teams could be heading for another draw in this clash too.