Out of the bottom three on the back of a solid home win over Norwich City the Latics go into Sunday’s game with Q.P.R. with a renewed confidence and swagger.
The FA Cup Semi Final, now les than a fortnight away, has indeed fostered an air of confidence around the club as players and supporters alike take on an attitude of success which as transpired into the league form.
At the same time the present bottom three all lost this weekend to varying degrees whilst the board at struggling Sunderland hurried for the panic button to bring in Paolo di Canio as boss after sacking Martin O’Neill.
Just what a new manager is expected to do with his leading goalscorer and captain out injured remains to be seen, but the Black Cats presently lie just one point above the relegation zone.
The latest two league results for Roberto Martinez and his team have been most pleasing for two main aspects. The first is the fact that they represent back-to-back wins which at the bottom end of the table often result in significant leaps up the table, or in our case, the closing of a gap and climb out of the relegation zone.
Secondly the six points represent a steep upturn in our home form which has been poor to date this season and the main root cause of our present league position.
We have some big games remaining this season and none more so than Sunday’s televised clash with Q.P.R.. Harry Redknapp’s team are now seven points adrift with Reading at the foot of the table and an away win for the Latics would surely put another big nail in the relegation coffin of Rangers whilst at the same time putting the Latics just seven points off the magical forty points total.
It would also be a perfect way to go into the following week’s FA Cup Semi Final with Millwall at Wembley. Now that the clocks have changed I am crossing my fingers that the spring of 2013 can yield the same level of results and performances as that of 2012. The back-to-back wins in our last two games would certainly suggest we’re well on our way.