Rovers entered the 3rd round of the 2021-22 FA Cup courtesy of their Championship status, on Monday and were among 43 other teams who were coming into the competition, for this campaign at this stage.
The draw for the 3rd round occurred live on ITV4 as the 44 sides from the Championship and the Premier League entered the draw, alongside all the 2nd round victors from League 1, League 2 and the rest of the English footballing pyramid.
With the draw seeing the introduction of the mouth-watering ties against the ‘big boys’ from the top tier, Rovers – ball #6 in the draw – were given an away draw against current League One runners-up, Wigan Athletic. The clash is set to take place at the DW Stadium, across the weekend of the 8th of January, with a confirmed date to be set in the near future.
Despite Rovers being successful in this competition, having been the victors six times, the team failed to get past the first hurdle last season, after losing 1-0 to Doncaster Rovers, at Ewood Park. Wigan’s 2020-21 FA Cup campaign also failed to get going, as they suffered defeat in the first round, as Chorley won 3-2, after extra-time, at the DW Stadium. Whilst this is Rovers’ first round, Wigan have had to go through rounds one and two, including a replay in the first round, in order to host Rovers, with the ‘Tics having come through against Solihull Moors in a replay, after extra-time, with a 2-1 win and they backed that up with another 2-1 victory in the second round, against Colchester United.
Rovers and Wigan Athletic have had somewhat of an intertwined history in recent years, as the fellow Lancashire side went head-to-head during the 2017-18 League One campaign, before narrowly pipping Rovers to the league title, by two points. Rovers have since fared better than the Latics, who only spent one season back in the Championship, before being relegated back to League One in 2019-20, due to a 12-point deduction.
This tie will be the second-ever FA Cup meeting between the two sides, with the last one being back in January 1998, where an own-goal, followed by a Kevin Gallacher brace, either side of a Tim Sherwood finish, saw Rovers emerge 4-2 victors at Ewood Park, over their then Second Division – which would now be League One – opponents. Current Rovers coach, David Lowe, was also a scorer in that game, funnily enough. Tony Mowbray’s Rovers, who currently sit 4th in the Championship after 21 games, will come up against Leam Richardson’s Latics who themselves, sit 2nd in League One. Rovers will want to avenge their last trip to the DW Stadium, which came in June 2020, after lockdown, as Rovers were on the end of a 2-0 defeat.
