Under-21s off to Wigan
The under-21s play an away match in the Professional Development League against Wigan Athletic this afternoon, giving both teams a chance to climb the standings.
With seven points from five games, we will start the game in seventh place in the league standings; Wigan are in first place due to a stronger goal differential. This season, we each have two victories, one tie, and two losses. We are both two points behind the three clubs directly above us, and because only Hull is playing today, a win for either of us would at the very least keep us in fourth position for the day.
The team with the best most recent performance is Wigan. After a solid run of recent games, they had a shocking 3-1 victory at Birmingham a week ago Friday before we had a significant 4-0 loss at Gawthorpe against Sheffield Wednesday a week ago today.
In this league, we have just twice played at Wigan. Prior to the 2019–20 season, they moved up to Category 2, where our match that season finished in a 1–1 draw. Lewis Richardson gave us the advantage, but Ali Koiki equalized with an own goal. When we were given a penalty in the second half, we had a fantastic chance to win it, but Rob Harker was unable to convert.
Last year was the only other time we played at Wigan. With the following lineup for the Clarets: Denis Franchi, CJ Egan-Riley, Kevin Long (Benn Ward 70), Luke McNally, Owen Dodgson, Ne-Jai Tucker, Joe Bauress, Mark Helm, Marcel Lewis, Dara Costelloe (Trialist 90+1), Seb Thompson (Michael Mellon 70), and Benn Ward, two players currently out on loan, scored in a 2-0 victory. Will Hugill and Luke Thomas were not substitutes. Only goalie Franchi and Hugill, a substitute, are still on that team and available for today’s game.
The match will take place at the DW Stadium and will begin at one o’clock.
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