Premier League preview: Blackburn v Wigan

4 May 2012 02:17

Blackburn's bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League could be decided on Monday when they host Wigan Athletic.

The Ewood Park clash pits the 19th-placed Rovers, who sit three points from safety, against a resurgent Wigan side.

Roberto Martinez's men defeated Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United, who are second, third and fifth on the table respectively, last month and have moved to 16th on the table as a result, three points above the relegation zone.

But despite relegation looming around the corner, Blackburn manager Steve Kean said no one at the club is thinking about what failure will mean over the next two weeks.

"We don't want to think about (relegation), we want to be positive and make sure we are focused – and that means beating Wigan and then beating Chelsea," Kean said.

"We're not thinking about going down. It's not even crossing our minds."

Blackburn failed to register a shot in Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Tottenham and Kean has not shied away from his side's lacklustre performance.

"We were poor against Spurs, especially with the ball," Kean said.

"Normally our passing is good and we get good service to the front but it wasn't up to standard."

Based on each EPL club's record in the last six matches, Wigan are the fourth-best performed side in the league with 12 points only behind Newcastle, Manchester City and Fulham.

Wigan's return to form has coincided with an improved defensive effort.

Martinez's side have conceded just five goals in their past six games.

In more bad news for Blackburn, Wigan go into the game fresh, as one of the few EPL teams not to have played mid-week.

Their last match was a 4-0 home win over Newcastle on Saturday thanks to two strikes to Victor Moses, plus goals to Shaun Maloney and Franco Di Santo.