DW Stadium, Sunday, 1500 GMTWIGAN ATHLETIC:
Manager Roberto Martinez has admitted ahead the clash with Fulham that he is hoping to recruit more strikers in the January transfer window.
The Spaniard believes he has been left short of firepower after Marlon King's imprisonment last week and is worried that too much responsibility rests on the shoulders of Jason Scotland and Hugo Rodallega. He said: "We are light up front as Marlon King's loss was unexpected. That is an area that we have to look to strengthen in the next window.
"We need to do that because we have left ourselves open and we cannot do that, We know our budget, we know how much money we have to spend but it is not just about that."
Martinez also wants his Wigan team to get back on track after losing 4-0 to Portsmouth last weekend. Wigan were embarrassed at Fratton Park and the club's manager is determined that there will be no repeat on Sunday. "It is important that we learn from all the things we did wrong last week," he added. "The feeling in the camp is that everybody is desperate to get out and perform against a very good Fulham side."
Strategy: Martinez will be hoping that Scotland and Rodallega can penetrate a Fulham defence that could feature some who played on Thursday night in a 2-1 defeat to Roma in the Europa League. After conceding four last week, the likes of Chris Kirkland, Titus Bramble and Mario Melchiot will all be desperate to make amends and boost confidence in the Wigan camp.
Injury Update: Apart from the long-term knee injury to Maynor Figueroa, Wigan have few concerns. There is a slight doubt over Paul Scharner's hamstring complaint but he is expected to play. Apart from that Wigan should be at full strength.
FULHAM:
Fulham's ability to revive weary limbs was always going to be tested by the club's Europa League campaign but the task now facing Roy Hodgson and his backroom staff is to patch up wounded egos, bruised pride, and a burning sense of injustice after Thursday's deflating defeat in Rome. That loss came in the wake of last weekend's stirring victory over Liverpool and manager Hodgson will be doing all he can to remind his players of their performance in that game rather than dwell on the prospect of a premature end to their European campaign.
Keeper Mark Schwarzer is convinced they can bounce back against Wigan, and believes the events in Italy this week will only serve to focus minds on Fulham's Premier League campaign. "I don't think it will affect the team," said the Australian. "We've had a very good run the last couple of weeks and decisions against Roma were made that were out of our hands. Now we must recover as much as possible and prepare for Sunday's game at Wigan, which will be tough. The key to it will be to recover as much as possible. It's a long trip there (from Rome) and it's a hard game."
The current mid-table position accurately reflects the Cottagers' fluctuating fortunes this season although Hodgson's side have so far shown more than enough signs they can entrench themselves further up the table. The flip of side of their European disappointment may be that they can dedicate more time and resources to doing just that.
Strategy: Hodgson has been forced to tweak and change his style as well as his personnel on virtually a weekly basis.He had hoped to settle into his preferred 4-4-2 formation with Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora up front but injuries to Johnson mean the manager has had to use Diomansy Kamara as a partner for Zamora. The pair have struck up a decent understanding but success at the DW Stadium could lie in the ability of Clint Dempsey to drift into central areas from the flanks.
Injury update: The treatment room is packed to the brim. Republic of Ireland international Damien Duff is the closest to a return from at least seven doubts for Hodgson to contend with. His calf problem kept him out of the trip to Roma and Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni will be hoping the winger isn't risked. Diomansy Kamara, Dickson Etuhu, Danny Murphy (all knee) and Andy Johnson (groin) are all ruled out while Simon Davies hoping to shake off his ankle problem having been on the bench in Rome.
