James McClean hopes to spearhead FA Cup upset challenge against his old club as Wigan Athletic take on Stoke City in the Fourth Round

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Six months after his departure from the Bet365 Stadium, James McClean returns to the Potteries with Wigan Athletic and will hope he can play his part in causing a cup upset.

The Irishman returned to the Latics last summer following spells at West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City, scoring five goals so far this season.

Nick Powell will also face off against his former employers if he is called upon. The prolific playmaker has become one of the Championship’s best in his department since signing for Stoke in June 2019 and has recently returned from a cracked fibula injury, sustained in October, making an instant impact.

The Potters trailed 1-0 to Huddersfield Town last Friday night when Powell entered the field of play replacing Mario Vrancic who was forced off through injury. The former Wigan man turned the game around, and in the end, the Potters came away with a point thanks to Jacob Brown’s late equaliser.

The 2013 FA Cup winners come into this tie after their 1-1 home draw in midweek against fellow promotion hopefuls Oxford United.

Another recent returnee from injury, Callum Lang, equalised the game at 1-1 after Matt Taylor opened the scoring for the U’s. The Latics will look to keep their momentum going as they aim to gain promotion out of League One.

Wigan will be backed by over 4,000 supporters as they sold out their ticket allocation within a matter of days and will hope they make the trip back to Greater Manchester with their name in the Fifth Round draw.

Saturday’s tie was one of the first fixtures drawn out after Stoke beat Leyton Orient 2-0 and the Latics came from behind to beat Championship high-flyers Blackburn Rovers in dramatic style.

Managers’ Thoughts

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Stoke City manager Michael O’Neill knows that the game against the League One side will not be an easy one.

“I watched Wigan [Athletic] on Tuesday, they made in-game tactical substitutions which were interesting and will be a tough group. They are on a great run.

“They’re a team that will get the ball forward quickly, they’ll compete for second balls, but we have to get the ball down and play and pose our self in the game.”

Wigan Athletic boss Leam Richardson is excited by the challenge that the encounter will bring.

“We know we’ve got a healthy challenge ahead of us and we will try and pick each game in the best way we can. Our biggest challenge is the next one. We will quickly move on from Tuesday to Saturday.

“We’re going up against a really healthy, tough Championship side who are littered with top players. They have a lot of international players who are coached very well.

“It’s a team that has been aspiring to get out of the league that they are in for some years and wanting to progress in competitions like the FA Cup. We know the challenge will be healthy but it’s something that we will certainly prepare for and relish going into Saturday.”

Team News

Stoke will be without the cup-tied Phil Jagielka, Lewis Baker and Jaden Philogene-Bidace after their appearances in Round Three with their respective clubs. Deadline Day signings Josh Maja and Liam Moore are available for this fixture.

A big boost for Stoke is the return of goalkeeper Joe Bursik, who has been sidelined since November after a hamstring tear picked up on England under-21 duty.

After his enforced withdrawal from the draw at Huddersfield, O’Neill confirmed that Vrancic will be absent for up to four weeks with a knee injury, meanwhile, Romaine Sawyers is close to being back in action.

Harry Souttar is still out with his anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in November.

The Latics will be without Will Keane after he picked up a hamstring injury against Cheltenham Town last week. Wigan will also be without defender Tom Pearce after he limped off during the Papa John’s Trophy clash against Arsenal under-21s.

Head-to-Head

The last time these two sides met was in a pre-season last July, where Wigan came away with a 2-1 triumph.

Stoke have faced Wigan 34 times with the Potters winning 12 ties, the Latics winning nine clashes and the remaining 13 ending up in a stalemate.

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