Wigan Athletic are the next team to travel to the AESSEAL New York Stadium to face Paul Warne’s Rotherham United in the Sky Bet Championship. Here, we take a look at who the Millers will be facing in our opposition analysis…
In the Dugout
Paul Cook will be the man in the dugout for Wigan on Saturday. The 51-year old made over 600 career appearances as a midfielder. Cook represented Marine, Wigan, Norwich City, Wolves, Coventry City, Tranmere Rovers, Stockport County, Burnley and Accrington Stanley.
As a manager, Cook started at Southport in 2006. In 2007, Cook joined Sligo Rovers in Ireland and won three major honours which included two successive FAI Cup in 2010 and 2011. Cook returned to England in 2012 to manage Accrington Stanley. He joined Chesterfield in 2012 and guided them to the League Two championship before a charge to the League One Play-Offs the following season. He joined Portsmouth in May 2015 for a compensation fee and steered them to the League Two title in 2017. In May 2017, he joined Wigan, who recently landed the League One title under his guidance.
Stats
Wigan come into the game sitting in 19th position, six points ahead of the Millers. In their last five league fixtures, they have won two and lost three, scoring six goals and conceding eight. They also were knocked out of the FA Cup in the 3rd round by West Brom in the midst of their last five league fixtures. Like the Millers, Wigan have found points on the road hard to come by and have lost 12 of their 14 away fixtures this season, drawing one and winning one. Their last league away win was in August 2018 with a 3-0 win against Stoke City.
Their last game was a 2-1 home victory over QPR. Goals by Josh Windass and Leon Clarke sealed all three points for the Latics despite QPR’s Bright Osayi-Samuel scoring late in the second half.
Previous Meetings
This is the 40th meeting between these sides, with the first being in November 1935 with Rotherham winning 2-1 in the FA Cup. Rotherham have won 12 of these fixtures while Wigan have won 21, with there being six draws. In the last five meetings, Rotherham have only won once against the Latics, suffering three defeats. The last time these teams met was in September 2018 at the DW Stadium with James Vaughan’s goal giving the Latics all three points with a 1-0 victory.
The last time Rotherham won was in the League Cup in August 2018 at the AESSEAL New York Stadium. Jamie Proctor’s brace and a goal from Semi Ajayi sent the Millers through to the next round, despite James Vaughan’s consolation for Wigan.
Ones to Watch
Our Ones to Watch start with goalkeeper Christian Walton. The 23-year old is currently on his second loan spell at the Latics from Brighton & Hove Albion. Walton started his career in the youth academy at Plymouth Argyle before joining Brighton in February 2013. He has represented England from U19 to U21 level and has had other loan spells in his career, which include Bury, Plymouth, Luton Town and Southend United.
In defence, Cédric Kipré has been ever present for Wigan since joining from Motherwell. The former PSG and Leicester City youth player had a loan spell at Corby Town in 2015 and has represented Ivory Coast U23 in 2018.
In midfield, Josh Windass scored last time out and has four goals this season, making him the joint top scorer this season for Wigan. The former Accrington Stanley and Rangers midfielder could be partnered by Nick Powell who also has four goals and four assists this season.
Upfront, new signing Leon Clarke opened his account for Wigan on his debut. The experienced forward joined the Latics on loan from Sheffield United until the end of the season. The 33-year old has represented a variety of clubs which include Sheffield Wednesday, Preston North End and Wolves.