Preview: Latics looking for their first European triumph
Having qualified for the Europa League courtesy of their FA Cup final win over Manchester City last season, Wigan will be hoping to make the best out of their European adventure. However with a miserable run in the Championship which has seen them win only thrice in eight matches, Wigan will not be expected to make many strides in Europe this season.
Their task will be made more difficult with injuries piling up as the Latics are set to be without defenders Gary Caldwell, Stephen Crainey and Ivan Ramis, goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi, midfielder Shaun Maloney and strikers Grant Holt and Marc-Antoine Fortune.
The aforementioned players are some of the most influential men in Owen Coyle’s roster, however the Scot is confident of getting the result against the Slovenian side.
"It's the first home tie. We've obviously had the experience of the first European tie for the club against Zulte in Belgium, where we acquitted ourselves very well,” said the former Bolton Wanderers boss according to SkySports
"And what we want to do now is achieve maximum points tomorrow [Thursday] night, which would put us in a nice place in terms of the standings in the group."
Owen Coyle’s side will be looking to turn things around on Thursday having failed to score in four of their last five matches, their antics have resulted in the Latics sliding down to 15th in the Championship table.
In their opening game Wigan earned a hard fought 0-0 draw against Zulte-Waregem in Belgium. They will now be against a Maribor side which hopes to become the first Slovenian side to defeat an English opposition in a Uefa club competition. Owen Coyle’s counterpart on Thursday Ante Simundza, will take charge of his first match as manager of Maribor and will be hoping for a bright start to life at his new club.
Maribor were thrashed 5-2 in the opening game against Rubin Kazan, and the Slovenian side has won just a single match in the seven games they have played so far in all competitions.
The 2-1 defeat at the hands of Koper on Saturday marked the end of former manager Ante Cacic’s short spell at the new club after joining earlier in June this year. Despite their recent dismal form, Maribor top the PrvaLiga table but new coach Simundza who had three spells with the Slovenian outfit as a player will be looking to instil a much needed confidence in the side.
Maribor have failed to avoid defeat in any of their last two visits to England, having lost to Tottenham and Birmingham City previously in Europa League encounters.
Where to watch the match – live stream, start time, TV channels, Live scores
Watch Wigan vs Maribor live on Thursday, October 3, 2013:
In Canada at 15:05 EDT on Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet World Online
In UK at 20:05 BST on BT Sport 1
In USA at 15:05 ET on SiriusXM FC, Fox Soccer 2Go
Fans in other parts of the world can watch the match live on their local channels. Those in the Australia can watch the match live on Setanta Sports Plus Australia.
For complete details of match listings and live scores, visit the Wigan vs Maribor match page.
