Wigan Athletic v Bromley: Gary Caldwell previews Saturday’s League One home clash

Wigan Athletic boss Gary Caldwell wants his side to turn up with a ‘real belief and confidence’ for Saturday’s home clash with Bromley.

Latics return to the Brick Community Stadium looking to end a run of three consecutive defeats, having lost away to Oxford United, Huddersfield Town and Leicester City.

Caldwell’s side sit bottom of League One with seven points - two behind Bromley - who occupy 22nd place ahead of Saturday’s meeting.

Wigan also host Mansfield Town on Tuesday night, with the two home fixtures offering an opportunity to climb away from the foot of the table.

Caldwell believes his side have faced one of the toughest runs of fixtures in the division, but insists they must remain positive as they prepare for another important spell.

“We are on the back of - I think I said it on Tuesday - the most difficult run any team will face in League One this season,” said Caldwell. “Three away games at three teams who I will be amazed if they don’t finish in the top six, and it shows kind of where we are.

“We’ve been in every one of those games and big moments have gone against us in both boxes, and we’ve discussed that again with the players and tried to think of different ways to get that across to the players to change our fortune going into another difficult run of games for different reasons, but definitely a run of games that we definitely have to keep looking at positively and try to win.”

Asked whether the visit of Bromley represented a must-win game, Caldwell was reluctant to use the phrase, instead outlining what he expects from his players at the Brick Community Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

“I hate the phrase, and I hate the phrase definitely in October,” Caldwell said when asked if Saturday’s game is a must-win. “This is a must turn up to our stadium with a real belief and confidence that they can win, this is a must have support from the stand to get behind the players, this is a must defend corners better, this is a must keep creating chances, this is a must be brave and play with courage and the result will be the result.

“I unfortunately can’t decide the outcome of a football match. If I could, I’d probably be managing at Man United or Real Madrid or Barcelona, and even their managers can’t decide that! What we can decide is how we’re going to turn up, how we’re going to perform, what we’re going to give to get the result and if we win, great, we’ve still got a long way to go as a team. If we get beat, we’ll look at the good and the bad, and we’ll recover, and we’ll be ready to go again on Tuesday.

“I said on Tuesday night there are still 102 points to play for this season… We must compete for every one of those points like it’s our last, and we’ll try to do that on Saturday, and we’ll try to get the win, but I’m not buying this ‘must-win’ – every game is a must-win. I must win at everything I do because that’s how we are wired - that’s why we’re in this game - so must-win is there in every moment of our life.”

Caldwell also provided an update on his squad following Tuesday’s defeat to Leicester, with Akeel Higgins returning to action following a hamstring injury and striker Christian Saydee continuing to build up his match fitness.

The Wigan boss is hopeful that midfield duo Max Power and Ryan Trevitt will also be available for the Bromley game following their respective injuries.

“It was good to get Akeel back on the pitch,” Caldwell said. “Christian got more minutes and is getting closer to full fitness and being able to play longer in games.

“We’ll hopefully have Max Power back available on Saturday, we’ll hopefully have Ryan Trevitt back and available for some part of the game, so that is important that we get our best players and as many as possible available for selection to kind of give me a headache and make me picking the team really difficult.”

There were also updates on striker Sonny Perkins and wing-back Archie Harris, with the former following concussion protocols, while Harris is being assessed after a minor hamstring issue.

“They’re getting closer,” Caldwell said. “Sonny’s got a concussion that he came off with against Huddersfield, so we’ll be guided by the medical team. There are protocols with concussion that we need to follow and be right on that.

“Archie didn’t play because he felt his hamstring in the warm-up, and we’re assessing him day by day. He shouldn’t be (out) too long but might not be available for Saturday.”