Benitez expecting tough Latics

Last updated : 02 January 2008 By Paul Farrington
The Spaniard said: "He has seen such situations before at Birmingham and I believe he will be really good for Wigan. We have played against Birmingham a few times when Steve has been manager and my experience of those matches - particularly at Anfield - is not the best, he has done well here.

"He did a good job and won league games here. We did beat them by seven goals in the cup at Birmingham but in the league it was a different story. We know Steve will produce that sort of fighting spirit against us now for Wigan.

"We struggled a bit against Wigan in the league earlier in the season, we did not kill the game off when we had the chance and you know in England if you do not do that, the game can become very physical, and teams make it really difficult for you."

Meanwhile, centre back Titus Bramble has also praised the impact that Bruce has had since his arrival at the club. The former Ipswich Town and Newcastle man is quoted: "We certainly don't feel we're playing like a team in the bottom three since the new manager arrived.

"He has been fantastic, and if we continue to play the way we have then we should be out of the bottom three again pretty soon. But all he's done is gone back to basics and made sure we're a harder team to beat. It's been that simple.

"I now don't see any reason why we can't get out of this because we've the players and the coaching staff to do it."

Readers should also look out for our exclusive interview with Wigan Athletic's FHM CHampionship model Dagmara. Currently making the message board more aesthetically pleasing, the Polish beauty has been speaking to WIGANER.net.