Wigan Athletic doing 'something special' ahead of Blackpool clash - Lowe

Blackpool will face a tough test as they kickstart their hectic festive fixture schedule with a visit to League One rivals Wigan Athletic on Saturday lunchtime.

Ian Evatt’s men are sitting second from bottom in the third tier table ahead of their short trip across Lancashire after they battled back from two goals down to earn what could be a valuable point in Saturday’s home game with promotion contenders Lincoln City. The importance of this weekend’s visit to Wigan can not be underplayed as an intriguing week lies in wait for the Tangerines with home clashes with fellow strugglers Doncaster Rovers and Rotherham United following hot on the heels of their trip to the Brick Community Stadium.

However, they will face a home side that have shown minor improvements in their game in recent weeks. Since falling to a narrow defeat against Wycombe Wanderers in mid-October, Ryan Lowe’s men have embarked on a ten-game unbeaten run in all competitions. Their latest addition to that run of form came with a 1-1 draw at Huddersfield Town on Saturday as a Raphael Rodrigues goal cancelled out a first-half opener from Terriers star Murray Wallace and ensured the Latics remained on the fringes of the League One play-off picture.

Although seven of those ten game unbeaten games have ended in draws, Wigan boss Lowe insisted his players should be proud of what they have achieved over the last two months and insisted that form ‘bodes well’ for the remainder of the season.

Speaking after Saturday’s draw, Lowe told Latics TV: “It’s a fantastic point. The lads performed to the levels. I said to them in the changing room, it’s just about having a little bit more belief. I believe that we can win anywhere - they are well-coached, well-drilled, and we know what we are trying to do. It was a sloppy goal from a wide free-kick that we conceded, but our goal was a fantastic, well-worked goal.

“It was a ball into space - Raph (Raphael Rodrigues) got on the end of it, and poked it through the keeper’s legs. The defensive shape without the ball was good - they couldn’t break us down and turned over the ball a bit. To come here, get a point and dominate the second half as we did was pleasing. I thought we could’ve nicked it at the end, but as always, I am pleased with the group and thought the fans were fantastic as well.”

Proud

He continued: “This is a hard-earned point and one that we’ll relish because not many teams will come here and win. Huddersfield have some fantastic players - they haven’t got going, but I’m really pleased with the performance and result. If you draw your away games and win your home games, it bodes well for you. We’re 10 games unbeaten now - I know there’s not a lot of wins in there - but that’s something special in my eyes as Head Coach. We should be proud of our unbeaten record, and we want to keep building on it."

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