Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs. Wigan Athletic - prediction, team news, lineups

The Baggies lost yet another away outing at Hull City on Friday night, whereas Wigan boosted their survival hopes with a point at home to Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon.

Match preview

West Brom suffered their fifth-straight away loss across all competitions on Friday night when they were defeated 2-0 at the MKM Stadium by Liam Rosenior's Tigers, with Benjamin Tetteh's first of the season and a Dara O'Shea own goal condemning Albion to a disappointing loss.

The visiting Baggies had the lion's share of the possession and chances on goal in Hull but were unable to breach Karl Darlow's net, with the 32-year-old earning himself the Man of the Match award as he kept Carlos Corberan's men at bay.

For large periods of the encounter in Yorkshire Albion played some neat football, however that loss means they are now 11th in the league standings and seven points behind sixth-placed Norwich City - albeit West Brom have played a game fewer than The Canaries.

Corberan will be happy his side are back at The Hawthorns on Tuesday night - Albion are unbeaten in their last 10 matches in the Black Country which includes the 2-0 success over promoting-chasing Middlesbrough just over a week ago.

With injuries beginning to diminish Corberan's options in attacking areas, West Brom know an upcoming trio of fixtures against Wigan, Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town need to return plenty of points if they are to keep pace with the top six.

Wigan head to The Hawthorns on Tuesday night off the back of a respectable point at home to John Eustace's struggling Birmingham side, with an Ashley Fletcher strike in the second half cancelling out Juninho Bacuna's delightful free-kick in the first period.

That point - combined with Huddersfield's 4-0 loss at home to Coventry City on the weekend - has moved The Latics off the bottom of the Championship table and into 23rd place, however more worryingly is the fact that safety is now six points away following Cardiff's success in the Severnside derby against Bristol City.

The Lancashire-based club have picked up points in five of the six games new manager Shaun Maloney has overseen since replacing Kolo Toure in February, although only one of those clashes has produced maximum points, leaving Wigan with plenty to do to avoid an immediate return to League One.

Wigan are one of the rare cases of a side faring better on their travels than in front of their home support, with 18 of The Latics' 32 Championship points coming away from the DW Stadium so far this season - despite that a victory at West Brom on Tuesday will be far from expected.

Maloney has claimed belief in his squad is still high despite being unable to earn maximum points from their encounter with an out-of-form Birmingham team on Saturday, and The Latics will need all of that confidence to get anything out of their game at The Hawthorns in this one.

West Bromwich Albion Championship form:

W

L

D

L

W

L

Wigan Athletic Championship form:

D

W

D

D

L

D

Team News

West Brom are awaiting news on whether winger Grady Diangana will require season-ending surgery after suffering a foot injury in the win over Middlesbrough - even if the 24-year-old does not need to go under the knife he will be absent for a couple of weeks.

Brandon Thomas-Asante is another attacking option who looks set to miss the clash with Wigan after the forward picked up a hamstring strain in training ahead of the trip to Hull - it is unknown yet whether the issue will keep him out for a matter of days or weeks.

Centre-back Kyle Bartley has suffered a fresh set-back on his return from injury, meaning it will likely be a central-defensive partnership of O'Shea and Erik Pieters that starts for The Baggies once again on Tuesday night.

Wigan stiker Josh Magennis made his first appearance since January off the bench on Saturday after returning from injury, and the 32-year-old could earn his first start since October at The Hawthorns - although Fletcher will be confident of keeping his place in the XI after scoring last time out.

Midfielder Christ Tiehi was substituted at the break on Saturday in favour of a more attacking option in the form of Will Keane as the Latics chased the game, however the Ivorian should retain his place in the starting XI on Tuesday.

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:

Griffiths; Furlong, O'shea, Pieters, Townsend; Yokuslu, Molumby, Wallace, Swift, Albrighton; Dike

Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:

Amos; Hughes, Whatmough, Rekik; Nyambe, Power, Tiehi, McClean; Sinani, Aasgaard, Fletcher

We say: West Bromwich Albion 1-0 Wigan Athletic

West Brom have struggled away from home of late but face a Wigan side battling for their Championship survival at The Hawthorns - it is not unreasonable to say that nothing less than a win will do for Corbernan's men on Tuesday night.

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