Wigan 0 Newcastle Utd 1 highlights 2/1/11
The magpies will be looking for only their second win since Alan Pardew took to the reigns following Chris Hughton's sacking last month. Pardew was at the helm for the impressive win over Liverpool in his first game but the team have lost matches to Manchester City and Tottenham in succession since then. However Pardew knows the task that awaits him in maintaining the magpies top flight status will be anything but standard and says his players need to strap themselves in for a white knuckle ride in helping to avoid the drop.
The toon army find themselves in 13th place at the moment with 22 points at this halfway stage. They would gladly settle for those standings at the end of the campaign. Asked if the second half of the campaign was shaping up to be a white-knuckle ride, Pardew said: "I think it will be - at both ends of the table. It is so tight through that division.
"You look at the teams and there is not a lot to choose between them all, and it is going to be that fighting spirit, that determination to get over the line and to get yourselves into a good position in the league which is going to be important.''
Wigan look to maintain a four-game unbeaten run and pull away from the Barclays Premier League relegation zone but Martinez remains wary of the Magpies. The Spaniard said: "If they play with 10 men it would be fantastic news but if Carroll is not playing there is Shola Ameobi or (Nile) Ranger, there are many replacements in that squad. Sometimes I think players that have got a point to prove and want an opportunity become an even more important player for the team."
Wigan and Newcastle in the premiership standings 1/1/11:
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