League One preview and odds: Wigan Athletic vs Gillingham

Published on: 07/01/2016

League One preview and odds: Wigan Athletic vs Gillingham

January 07, 2015 19:45pm - The DW Stadium

League One

Wigan Athletic will continue their quest to make the play-offs on Friday night when they square up against League One title hopefuls Gillingham at the DW Stadium.

Wigan unbeaten in three

Wigan have lost just two of their last 17 games in League One, however, both of those defeats came in their last two home fixtures. They played three consecutive away games during the Christmas holiday period and came away with two wins and a draw.

Last time out, they grabbed a point after holding mid-table Scunthorpe to a 1-1 draw. Prior to that, they won convincingly at Fleetwood (1-3) and Barnsley (0-2).

Four wins in four for Gillingham

A run of four straight league wins has lifted Gillingham to second place in the table, just one point behind pace setters Burton Albion. During those four games, Justin Edinburgh`s side have conceded just one goal having kept three clean sheets and scored 10 goals.

They come into this game on the back of a brace of home wins against Bradford City (3-0) and Colchester United (1-0). Midfielder Bradley Dack currently leads the team goal charts with a total of 11 league strikes.

Team news

On-loan striker Yanic Wildschut has returned to parent club Middlesbrough and will not play for Wigan on Friday. However, the club are hoping that a new loan deal can be agreed in the coming weeks. Grant Holt has returned from a loan spell at Wolves and could lead the line for the Latics, while Kevin McNaughton is still unavailable as he continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Gillingham are hoping that frontman Luke Norris will be fit after suffering a knock last weekend. However the Gills will be without Jordan Houghton and Adedeji Oshilaja whose loan deals with Chelsea and Cardiff respectively have ended. Ben Williamson will be available after returning from a loan stint at Cambridge.

Recent form (League)

Wigan Athletic: LLLLW

Gillingham: DWWLD

Betting odds and tips

Wigan have lost two on the bounce at home while Gillingham have won their last two away games. With Wildschut absent, the Latics have also lost one of their most effective striking options. The away side are in great form and can be backed at 31/10 with Bet365.

Gillingham`s top scorer Bradley Dack can be backed at 3/1 to score anytime, also with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 07/01/2016

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (07/01/2016 12:47:34) but are subject to change.