The two sides have met 33 times in their history but surprisingly this will be their first meeting in the FA Cup. Wigan have the slight edge with 13 victories to Bolton’s 11 overall but in both their meetings in the league this season the games have ended 1-1. The Latics will also take heart from their record at the Reebok Stadium, as they have won two, drawn two and lost two on their visits there but they have not recorded a victory on the ground since 2008.
The local rivals, who are just seven miles apart, last met 24 days ago at the Reebok when a late Ronnie Stam goal earned the Latics a point after Rodrigo had given the Trotters the lead with his first goal for the club.
Cup provides welcome distraction
Bolton will be glad of the cup distraction as they are still searching for their first league win of 2011, the heavy 4-0 defeat against Chelsea meant they have lost three and drawn one of their Premier League matches this year. However, they did beat York City 2-0 in the third round thanks to late strikes from Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander to set up the tie with Wigan.
Like their Lancashire neighbours, Wigan they have also not won a league game in 2011, and their only win in the last eight games came in the third round tie with Hull City which they won 3-2 with goals a brace from Mohamed Diame and a goal from Callum McManaman. Their away form continues to be poor, they have only won twice away from the DW this season, and their home form has started to take a nose dive as they were beaten by Aston Villa in midweek and Roberto Martinez will be hoping to get back to winning ways in this tie.
TEAM NEWS
Bolton
After watching the defeat to Chelsea from the bench, David Wheater is expected to make his debut against Wigan alongside Gary Cahill again in defence. The centre-back was not involved in Middlesbrough’s defeat to Burton Albion in the first round so he is not cup-tied for this game.
Croatian striker Ivan Klasnic is still a doubt for the match with the groin strain that he picked up in training two weeks ago and Lee Chung-Yong is still away with South Korea at the Asian Cup.
Jlloyd Samuel, Sean Davis and Joey O’Brien are all ruled out through injuries. Samuel suffered a calf strain in early October, Davis is currently on the sidelines with a knee injury and has got February as his return date and O’Brien has not featured this season due to persistent knee problems.
Possible starting XI: Jaaskelainen; Steinsson, Cahill, Wheater, Robinson; Rodrigo, Holden, Muamba, Taylor; K Davies, Elmander.
Wigan
Despite defeat to Aston Villa on Tuesday there were some big positives for Wigan and Roberto Martinez. James McCarthy played 85 minutes and also grabbed a goal on what was his return from injury. Franco Di Santo also returned to the starting line-up against Villa, and Victor Moses was named on the bench. Captain Gary Caldwell returns for this match after serving his one-game suspension.
Goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi is ineligible to play against his parent club so Mike Pollitt and Chris Kirkland will be fighting it out to take his place between the posts.
Paraguayan defender Antolin Alcaraz continues to be sidelined with a thigh strain, and the only other player missing for the Latics is Tom Cleverley who picked up a hamstring injury against Bolton earlier this month.
Possible starting XI: Pollitt; Gohouri, G Caldwell, S Caldwell, Figueroa; McCarthy, Thomas, Watson, McArthur, N’Zogbia; Rodallega.
Prediction
Like any local derby this will be a tight affair but neither team will want a replay so should go all out to win this match on the day. Bolton’s attacking options, combined with Wigan’s poor away form, should give them the advantage.
Bolton 2-1 Wigan Athletic 
