Wigan Athletic have a point to prove after Blackburn no-show

Lee Evans admits Wigan Athletic will have extra motivation to perform at Blackburn on Monday – to exorcise the demons of last season’s horror show at Ewood Park.

Latics make the short trip up the M6 aiming to arrest a 10-game winless sequence that's seen them drop into the Championship drop zone.

And they'll be desperate to banish the memories of arguably the worst performance of last term, when they went down 3-0.

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"We just didn't turn up against Blackburn last year, and that makes it an even bigger game for us," Evans told the Wigan Post.

"We had a few of them away from home to be fair, and we know we need to do better.

"Especially with it being a derby game, where we're taking a lot of fans over, we want to send them home happy.

"We can't always send them home with a result. But if we can send them home with a performance they can cheer, that's something we can do.

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"We're going in on the back of, not two great results, but two good performances, so we'll go there with confidence.

"If we work hard and do the right things, hopefully we can get some more points on the road."

Despite the game being live on Sky, Latics will be boosted by a bumper following - which Evans says will spur them on.

"Of course it does, every time you walk out there and see the away end full, it gives you a lift as a player," he acknowledged.

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"And for our part, we have to play well, turn up, and win our tackles and our battles on the field.

"It's all the old school things...stay in the game after 20 minutes...just give yourself a chance of winning."

Things have looked up in the last two matches since Evans returned to the fold after two-and-a-half months out with calf trouble.

The renewing of his midfield partnership with Sam Morsy gave Latics the platform to play a more fluid style that warranted far more than the two points accrued.

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"We got a little bit of stick for the Huddersfield goal at the weekend," he added. "But it's probably our way of wanting to push on and get the next goal.

"It's trying to make sure we win the game rather than sit off and hold on.

"Yeah, we probably should have been in our shape better, but it's one of those things.

"I know a lot of people don't like to see their side sit back when they've gone 1-0 up, especially the way we've unfortunately been going this season.

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"It's been nice to be leading going into the last half-hour in the last two games, and looking to attack and go for the winner.

"It's an old cliche, but attack is sometimes the best form of defence, rather than sitting back."