In a hotly-anticipated fixture between two of the struggling sides in the Sky Bet Championship, Burton Albion take on Wigan Athletic at the Pirelli Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts go into the game hovering just one point above the drop zone whilst the Latics are languishing in 23rd position, six points off of safety.

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Last time out, the Brewers fell to defeat against Premier League Watford in the Emirates FA Cup and they will be determined to bounce back with a crucial set of three points.

Having prevailed in only one of their last five league outings, a narrow 2-1 away victory over bottom club Rotherham United, Nigel Clough will see this as a perfect opportunity to get back on track.

As for Warren Joyce’s Wigan, it has been an equally frustrating last few weeks. A respectable point was earned away to Derby County on New Year’s Eve, but that is their only positive result in the Championship over the last five fixtures.

However, the recent 2-0 FA Cup triumph at home to Nottingham Forest does give the travelling supporters some room for optimism.

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The visitors will be without influential midfielder Nick Powell after he picked up an injury against Forest last weekend. The former Manchester United man is set to be out for the rest of the season.

Reece Burke (hip), Craig Morgan (groin), Reece James (ankle), Donervan Daniels (knee), David Perkins (hamstring), Alex Gilbey (ankle), Luke Garbutt (back) and Kyle Knowle (elbow) are all also sidelined.

Jakob Haugaard is likely to retain his place between the posts following an impressive debut. The Denmark-born 'keeper recently arrived on loan from Stoke City and he will be eager to make an impact at the DW Stadium.

On Wednesday, Clough revealed that his side is battling a sickness bug, telling the club website, “We have been hit by a sickness bug the last few days and we only had 12 outfield players at training so we are down on numbers with illness and injury."

He said that sickness bugs are "hard to contain in football clubs" and that "once a bug starts going around usually three or four get it", before adding: "We hope the illness will clear up for Saturday.”

New signing Luke Varney is also unavailable after sustaining a punctured lung on his debut versus Watford. Will Miller (hamstring), Ben Turner (hamstring), Chris O’Grady (calf strain) and Jackson Irvine (groin) are all doubts too and they are facing a battle to be in contention. Marvin Sordell does return to the fold, however, after he was cup-tied for the Watford defeat.

History

The two sides have only met on four occasions and Burton remain undefeated versus the Latics. One win and two draws have been registered by the Brewers in the Football League and they also came out on top during a League Cup clash in 2014.

During those four meetings, Wigan have only scored twice and that doesn’t bode well considering they have only found the net 20 times in the Sky Bet Championship this season – their lowest total after 25 games since they joined the Football League.