Mpenza on the bench for City

New arrival Emile Mpenza had to be content with a place on the bench as Manchester City looked to arrest their mini-slump at the expense of fellow strugglers Wigan.

The Belgian forward has joined the Blues on a short-term basis in an effort to boost their woeful goals tally but manager Stuart Pearce elected to pair Georgios Samaras and Bernardo Corradi in attack even though City have collected just a single point from their last four games.

A win for the visitors would take them above their north-west neighbours in the table and former England striker Emile Heskey was available despite picking up a groin injury in last week's victory over Newcastle.