Opposition Lowdown: Managerless Wigan Athletic

Wigan Athletic arrive at the Select Car Leaking Stadium on Tuesday night rudderless, winless in five and desperate for any result that will drag them out of the League One drop zone. The Latics sit 22nd, two points from safety, after a bruising 6-1 capitulation at Peterborough United on Saturday – a defeat that cost manager Ryan Lowe his job only eleven months into his reign. Interim duo Glenn Whelan and Graham Barrow have been asked to steady the ship while chairman Talal Al Hammad scours the market for a permanent successor.

It is a far cry from the modest optimism of last May, when a 15th-place finish, ten points clear of trouble, suggested the Greater Manchester club had finally found a platform in the third tier. Instead, 2025-26 has delivered only three league victories, the last of them a 2-1 success at Burton Albion on 28 December. Since then, four defeats and a single draw have nudged Wigan ever closer to the relegation trapdoor and intensified calls for fresh leadership.

Reading, who completed a comfortable double over the Latics last term, will sense vulnerability. Goals from Jayden Wareham and Tyler Bindon sealed a 2-1 Berkshire win in March after earlier domination at the SCL Stadium, and the Royals have every reason to target another statement victory against opponents who have conceded 13 times in their last three away fixtures.

Selection problems compound Wigan’s plight. Club captain Jason Kerr (knee) and full-back James Carragher (hamstring) are expected to miss out, leaving a patched-up back four likely to feature new recruit Jack Hunt. The 33-year-old right-back signed on a free from Stockport County last month and is poised for a second start alongside Aimson, Fox and Sessefon. Between the posts, England U-20 international Sam Tickle continues to impress despite the chaos in front of him.

January business brought three further reinforcements, all on loan: midfielder Owen Moxon (Stockport), former Royal Caylan Vickers (Brighton) and Huddersfield striker Joe Taylor. All three are in contention to start, with Taylor’s physical presence offering an alternative to the mobile but misfiring front line that has mustered only 29 goals in 28 league outings.

Creativity and goals have largely fallen to midfielders Fraser Murray and Callum Wright. Murray, signed from Kilmarnock last summer, tops the club chart with five goals and has featured in every league fixture. The 26-year-old Scot is comfortable centrally or off the flank, and his set-piece delivery will test a Reading defence that has struggled at restarts. Wright, on loan from Plymouth Argyle, has matched Murray’s tally from a more advanced role, thriving as a No. 10 where his aerial ability adds a different dimension to Wigan’s build-up.

Yet for all their individual promise, the pair have been unable to arrest a sequence that has seen the Latics claim only four points from a possible 21 since Boxing Day. The interim coaches have preached defensive solidity after the weekend humiliation at London Road, but with confidence brittle and the managerial situation unresolved, Tuesday’s assignment looks treacherous.

Kick-off is 19:45 GMT, and while Wigan’s travelling support clings to hope that a new-manager bounce might yet materialise, the statistics are stark: no wins in eight on the road, 22 goals conceded in that span, and a goal difference of minus 19 that is the second-worst in the division. Reading know victory would extend their cushion inside the top half and deepen the visitors’ relegation fears. For Whelan and Barrow, the immediate remit is simpler: stop the bleeding, restore belief, and somehow find a way to claw back those two precious points that separate their side from safety.

Wigan Athletic, managerless and marooned near the bottom, have never needed a result more.