Goals From All Areas Can Keep Wigan On Track for Promotion
Image Source: Wigan Athletic via Twitter
The surge up to the Premier League and battling amongst the English elite, reaching the League Cup final or winning the FA Cup and even briefly playing in the Europa League. They all took place in the recent history of Wigan Athletic, but sometimes it seems those heady days were a lifetime ago, especially after the last two yo-yo seasons at the DW Stadium.
From pushing for rapid promotion back to the Premier League, to relegation from the Championship. From bouncing straight back to the Championship, only to drop immediately back down to League One again. Fans have certainly endured the joy and pain that comes with the territory for the Latics faithful.
After sixteen games of the 2017-18 campaign, Wigan have made an excellent start with only a couple of blips along the way, stumbling away at Shrewsbury and Peterborough. Since that last defeat at the ABAX Stadium, the team has consistently picked up points both home and away, setting off on an impressive run of seven games without defeat ahead of the trip to nearby Rochdale.
Always considered the clear favourites to win promotion at the start of the season, currently sitting second in League One after sixteen games and with a buffer of six points above Bradford in third, plus just a point behind Shrewsbury at the top, a swift return to the Championship beckons.
Image Source: Wigan Athletic via Twitter
The bookmakers also seem to agree, following such positive league form continuing into November. Early in the month, Wigan are 1/7 favourites for promotion to the Championship and 1/5 to achieve that objective within the top two positions of League One. As for gaining promotion in the best possible style, they’re also tipped as 4/9 favourites for the title.
Will Grigg was ‘on fire’ in 2015-16 promotion run with 25 league goals, following his move from Brentford. However, the Northern Ireland international has since struggled to ignite the same sort of scorching form, managing just five Championship goals last term and three so far in 14 League One encounters of the current campaign. Hopefully, he will rediscover his scoring spark soon enough.
Nevertheless, one man doesn’t make a team and throughout Paul Cook’s side the collective effort is paying dividends, particularly when it comes to contributing goals. Michael Jacobs has bagged four goals already, whilst Gavin Massey has three and Ivan Toney has two. Several other players have also chipped in with goals.
Image Source: Wigan Athletic via Twitter
No doubt the most impressive contributor to date is Nick Powell. Although last season was a struggle for the whole team, this season with six goals in 11 league games and already matching last season’s tally, the 23-year-old midfielder is demonstrating the kind of form that first propelled him into the spotlight as a teenager, prompting his move from Crewe Alexandra to Manchester United.
It’s also the kind of form the player enjoyed on loan during the 2013-14 campaign at Wigan, scoring 12 goals in 41 appearances, which was inevitably one of the reasons the club wasted no time in swooping for Powell when his contract at United expired in 2016. This season he has been excellent and not just for goals; his overall contribution has been stellar.
This current Wigan team might not boast any of the leading scorers in League One thus far, but right now, they are still the highest scoring side in the division with the best goal-difference by some clear margin. If that form can be maintained and players throughout the team can keep weighing in, it really doesn’t matter where the goals come from, so long as they keep coming.