EFL confirm referee decision for Wycombe Wanderers v Wigan Athletic clash

The officiating team for Wigan Athletic's Saturday afternoon clash against Wycombe Wanderers has been confirmed, with Leigh Doughty to take charge.

A difficult challenge awaits the Latics as they travel to Buckinghamshire to face League One's second-placed side. The Chairboys defeated Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night. In Sussex, Wigan had to settle for a draw with Crawley Town after Charlie Baker had cancelled out Dale Taylor's opener.

Wycombe's win has them in a good position for automatic promotion, opening up a five-point lead over third-placed Wrexham. They are still six points off of league leaders Birmingham City who have two games in hand but look a good bet to finish in the top six and at least compete for promotion.

Wigan have picked up a point from a possible six on their travels in their last two games, having lost to Peterborough United at the end of January. They had beaten Mansfield Town and Stevenage before then in what was a good start to the year on the road. Wycombe are unbeaten in their last three league games at home, drawing against Northampton Town, whilst also beating Barnsley and Bristol Rovers.

Wycombe Wanderers v Wigan Athletic referee confirmed

The EFL have confirmed Doughty will take charge Adams Park. It will be the first time that the referee has officiated Wigan this season. He has mainly taken charge of games in the Championship, with his only League One game this season being a 1-1 draw between Rotherham United and Stockport County over Christmas.

His record this season is 16 games with just one penalty award, along with 71 yellow cards and one red card which came from two yellows. Doughty’s last match was on New Year's Day with Middlesbrough beating Hull City 1-0.

It's almost been two-and-a-half-years since Doughty was in charge of a Wigan match. he was the referee for Wigan's 4-1 defeat to middlesbrough in Octber 2022 and before that he was there for their loss to Sunderland in the third round of the Carabao Cup in the 2021/22 season.

Doughty has taken charge of three Wycombe games, with his first coming in a 2-1 win against Cardiff City in December 2020. He was also their referees for their games against Bolton Wanderers and Wycombe last year.

Wycombe Wanderers v Wigan Athletic ticket details

A total of 1,670 tickets were given to Wigan for the trip and were priced at £27 for adults, £24 for seniors, £22 for mid-adults, £20 for young adults, £16 for juniors and £7 for children. Tickets went on sale on Monday, February 3 and they can be purchased on the day with no price increase.

"It'll be a tough game but an amazing game," said first-team manager Shaun Maloney in his pre-match press conference as his team head down south for the trip.

"If we can go toe-to-toe with Fulham for long periods, as we did in the FA Cup, we can do the same with teams in this division."