Preview: Shrewsbury Town vs. Wigan Athletic - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors will enter this match off the back of a 4-2 defeat at Oxford United, while Shrewsbury held high-flying Barnsley to a 1-1 draw in their last game in England's third tier.

Match preview

Shrewsbury re-appointed Paul Hurst as head coach towards the end of last month, with Matt Taylor losing his job due to a poor run of form, and there has been an improvement under the 49-year-old.

Indeed, the Shrews have won one, drawn two and lost one of their four matches since Hurst's return, including back-to-back draws with promotion-chasing pair Derby County and Barnsley.

Shrewsbury boast a record of 10 wins, five draws and 17 defeats from their 32 league matches this season, which has left them down in 19th position in the table on 35 points.

Hurst's side are only four points clear of the relegation zone, so there is still plenty of work to do this term, but there have been positive signs of late, and they will fancy their chances of overcoming an out-of-form Wigan outfit on Saturday afternoon.

The Shropshire outfit have actually lost their last four League One games against Wigan, though, including a 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

Wigan, meanwhile, will enter this match off the back of a 4-2 defeat at Oxford, with the result making it successive losses, having also been beaten at home by Exeter City on February 10.

The Latics have lost three of their last four league fixtures, but their last victory did come on their travels - a 3-2 success over Peterborough United at the start of the month.

Shaun Maloney's side are currently 14th in the League One table, boasting a record of 13 wins, six draws and 13 defeats this season to collect 37 points.

Wigan are actually only two points ahead of Shrewsbury, while they sit just six points above the relegation zone, so the team are far from comfortable at this stage of the campaign.

The Latics have been inconsistent on their travels this season, only picking up 17 points from 16 matches, while Shrewsbury have collected 23 points from their 16 games in front of their own supporters.

Shrewsbury Town League One form:

L

L

W

L

D

D

Wigan Athletic League One form:

W

W

L

W

L

L

Team News

Shrewsbury were excellent in their clash with Barnsley last time out and came so close to winning it, conceding an equaliser from the penalty spot in the 92nd minute.

With no injury problems reported from the 1-1 draw, it seems logical that it will be a case of same again for head coach Hurst, with a 4-2-3-1 formation set to include Dominic Udoh as the centre-forward.

Udoh is the team's leading goalscorer this season with five, and the hosts will again be looking to the 27-year-old for inspiration in Saturday's intriguing contest.

Wigan have not reported any fresh injury concerns from their defeat at Oxford last time out, so it is expected to be largely the same group available for head coach Maloney.

There are not expected to be many surprises when it comes to the XI despite the disappointing nature of their last result, but there could a change in the final third, with Chris Sze potentially coming in for a start.

Josh Magennis is another option to boost the attack, but it seems likely that head coach Maloney will keep faith with a 3-4-3 formation for this contest.

Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:

Marosi; Feeney, Dunkley, Pierre, Benning; Winchester, Hinchy; Bloxham, Bayliss, Shipley; Udoh

Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:

Tickle; Hughes, Goode, Chambers; Clare, Adeeko, Smith, Jones; Godo, Sze, Aasgaard

We say: Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Wigan Athletic

This is a tough match to call, and we have had to settle on a draw this weekend. Shrewsbury are in the better form, but Wigan have a lot of quality in their squad, and we are expecting a tight match to finish all square.

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