Stoke City have been too inconsistent to maintain their good form recently, with two wins, one draw and three losses since the turn of the year.

One of those wins came in the last round of the FA Cup, as they cruised past Leyton Orient 2-0 with goals from Tom Ince and Tyrese Campbell.

Their last game was a controversial 1-1 draw away at Huddersfield Town, with Jacob Brown grabbing a late equaliser.

This is the Potters' first fourth round appearance since the 2015/16 season, and they have made the fifth round just once since 2012/13.

Wigan Athletic have been nothing short of unstoppable in the third tier so far this campaign, and currently sit second in the table with two games in hand on table-toppers Rotherham United.

Leam Richardson's men are unbeaten in 20 games in all competitions, last losing in late October to Lincoln City.

They saw off Championship high-flyers Blackburn Rovers 3-2 in the last round, and their last league game saw them draw 1-1 to Oxford United on Tuesday.

The Latics have great recent history in the FA Cup, winning in 2013 and reaching the semi-finals the year after.

  • Team news

Stoke City

Stoke midfielder Mario Vrancic is set to be unavailable for three to four weeks with a knee injury.

Lewis Baker, Phil Jagielka, Jaden Philogene-Bidace and Will Forrester are all cup-tied.

Romaine Sawyers, Harry Souttar, Abdallah Sima and Tom Edwards all remain sidelined.

Joe Bursik has returned to training and is in contention to play for the first time since November.

Deadline day signings Josh Maja and Liam Moore could both feature for their new club.

Wigan Athletic

Will Keane and Tom Pearce will both miss the trip to Staffordshire with their respective injuries.

Former City midfielder Jordan Cousins is unavailable through a long-term hamstring injury.

January acquisition Graeme Shinnie is cup-tied after playing for Derby County in the cup earlier in the season.

Glen Rea and Jamie McGrath could both make their debuts for their new side.

  • Predicted lineups

Stoke City (3-5-2)

Bonham; Wilmot, Harwood-Bellis, Moore; Smith, Allen, Thompson, Powell, Tymon; Wright-Phillips, Brown.

Wigan Athletic (4-2-3-1)

Amos; Power, Whatmough, Tilt, Darikwa; Naylor, Rea; Massey, Lang, McClean; Magennis.

  • Ones to watch

Nick Powell

Powell is a product of the Crewe Alexandra youth academy and joined Manchester United at just 18 years old, but failed to ever nail down a spot for the Red Devils as a youngster.

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This weekend he is facing his former club, and a fruitful three year spell at Wigan saw him net 29 goals in 99 appearances - sealing him an eventual move to Stoke in 2019. So far this season he has battled through persistent injury to score six goals in just 12 games.

James McClean

Another man facing his former employers is Irish international winger James McClean. The 32-year-old was at the Latics from 2013-2015 and joined Stoke in 2018 via a three-year stint at West Bromwich Albion. He netted 12 goals in 111 appearances in three seasons for the Potters before moving back to Wigan last summer.

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He has played a pivotal role in their fantastic season so far, with six goals and four assists in 25 appearances for Leam Richardson's side. Once Stoke's Player of the Year in 2019/20, he will be looking to avenge those that criticised him during his time with the Potters this weekend.

  • Previous meetings

The last meeting between these teams was in July 2020, and Wigan ran out 3-0 winners in a Championship fixture at the DW Stadium.

After a ten-game winless run against Wigan from 2009-2019, Stoke have won two of their last three games against the Latics in recent times.

The clubs have met just once previously in the FA Cup, with Stoke winning 3-0 in round three in 2002/03.

  • How to watch

The game kicks off at 15:00 GMT on Saturday February 5.

It is not available to watch in the UK.

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