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Wigan and Huddersfield faced off last season in the FA Cup run. A 4-1 victory to the Latics saw us carry on into the deeper realms of the cup competition. The game though was the start of the coming of Callum McManaman. The wingers inspired performance has he got a goal for the club helped us overcome a struggling Huddersfield side at the time.
Fast forward a season and Huddersfield are a team very much on the up. A team which only just finished above the relegation zone (four points), have turned into one of the dark horse for promotion, with only four league defeats to their name this season they are showing signs of real quality.
In ninth place on 17 points, if Wigan did win today then we would go above Huddersfield. Anything else and the gap between us and any hope of promotion begins to get wider and wider. Now is the time to start making a run towards the top.
Latics though will start the game today with another injury on the list. It looks increasing likely that Grant Holt will miss the game, and joins the other numerous names out for the game. What will Owen Coyle do here? Does he go for Marc Antoine-Fortune up front on his own? Or does he play Nick Powell and leave Fortune on the bench? Will be interesting to see.
One player I do believe will start the game today is Marc Albrighton. Callum McManaman's improved performance during the week gave us a glimpse of the player we know he his, the start to the season that Callum has made for me shows how much expectation we placed on a young player who missed an entire pre-season. Albrighton starting in his place wouldn't surprise me.
Nor would the continued inclusion of Chris McCann who in the past couple of games has begun to change my perception of the player. McCann still doesn't work hard enough for me at time, yet his quality on the ball and at reading situations is finally starting to shine through, and looks more like the player we all thought we had signed.
As the QPR was an important game, this is a must win one. The QPR game showed us that the team can control and contain a team which for most people is the best in the league, while create our own chances; taking them is next on the list of jobs to do and lets hope we do that today.
Three points today is a must.