Latics boss Richie Wellens is expecting his team to perform well at Carlisle United in the FA Cup.
Wellens said, “If we can go and get on another little run, seven games unbeaten we’d like to take that. It’s a different competition now, the FA Cup is an important competition for this club and like every club we want to try and make it to the third round, make some money and try and get a big tie but also bring some excitement to the fans. When it gets to the third round of the FA Cup everyone looks forward to it because the big boys are in the hat so it’s about going there being professional and making sure we’re in the second round draw. It’s probably the best cup competition in the world, every single club in the country is involved so it’s exciting.”
“We could have had an easier draw, Carlisle are a good side and they like to attack with a lot of players so it’ll be a tough game but we’re looking forward to it and we go there with confidence. The game against Scunthorpe hasn’t dented our confidence because there were a lot of positives to come out of it, it was the first time we’ve been two down and comeback from it so that was a positive. I might have one or two changes enforced on me so there’s nothing I can control but other than that I was planning on making a few more changes, but we had a game in the week against Fleetwood Town and not many players impressed so it’s just changed my thinking a little bit. Carlisle are a team you can’t be complacent with because of their attack, they throw a lot of bodies forward and if we’re not on our game it’ll be a very difficult afternoon for us. I want them to be focused and work the way we’ve been working and if they perform like we have we’ll win the game, we’ve got better quality than them but they are a threat so if the players aren’t on it it’s a dangerous game.”