I’ll Do Tactical Work – Wigan Boss Prepared For Reading Test | OneFootball

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Wigan Athletic boss Shaun Maloney is wary of Reading’s potency on the counter attack, but he also sees the opportunity to build up when the Royals press his side.

The Royals are currently sitting ninth in the League One table, but have a chance to make it to the top six with 14 games remaining in the campaign.

They are only three points adrift of sixth-placed Leyton Orient, who boast the final playoff spot, and manager Noel Hunt will look to fight to get the Royals back to the Championship.

Reading have picked up nine points in their last five league games and up next they are set to travel to DW Stadium to face Wigan Athletic, who are sitting in mid-table and are ten points behind the Royals.

Maloney clearly remembers that in the previous fixture between the two teams, which took place in August, the Latics were poor and lost the game 2-0.

However, he is putting in the tactical work to find the best way for Wigan to counter Reading, though he already has an expectation that his side will be allowed to build up the play by the Royals, who will then look to strike quickly.

“I hope our performance is better than the previous fixture, we were really poor that day, I remember that quite clearly”, Maloney told Wigan Athletic’s official channel (0:50) when he was asked about the previous fixture between the Latics and the Royals.

“I will do more tactical work on them today, but if they press the same way they will probably allow us certain parts to build up and then they are very good on the counter-attack.

“They have got really good 1-v-1 players, so I will have to do more tactical work to figure out how we play against them, particularly in that build-up phase.

“But yes, I like their players, they have got young, talented guys and they are getting good results; it will be a really good game.”

Wigan have just the 18th best home record in League One this season, with only five wins out of 16 on home turf having been picked up.

Reading are just as poor on the road, having won only three of their 16 League One trips away from home, the most recent of those being a 3-1 success at Cambridge United on New Year’s Day.