De Zeeuw fit for Wigan

Wigan captain Arjan de Zeeuw was passed fit for the JJB Stadium visit of Aston Villa despite sitting out training for most of the week with a toe injury.

Manager Paul Jewell still made four changes, in particular with Leighton Baines missing his first game of the season with a calf injury, allowing David Wright to make his first Barclays Premiership start since January 2.

Josip Skoko came in for only his second league game this season, defender Matt Jackson was handed his third start of the campaign, while Gary Teale returned after missing last week’s 3-2 win over Charlton with a hamstring strain.

Villa boss Martin O’Neill made two changes following last week’s 1-0 win at Everton, with captain Gareth Barry fit again after recovering from a bruised back and Peter Whittingham recalled in place of the suspended Gavin McCann and injured Stiliyan Petrov.

Wigan: Kirkland, Boyce, De Zeeuw, Jackson, Wright, Teale, Skoko, Scharner, Kilbane, Camara, McCulloch. Subs: Filan, Johansson, Landzaat, Cotterill, Webster.

Aston Villa: Sorensen, Mellberg, Cahill, Ridgewell, Bouma, Agbonlahor, Osbourne, Barry, Whittingham, Sutton, Angel. Subs: Taylor, Baros, Davis, Berger, Agathe.

Referee: S Bennett (Kent)