Caldwell will take the helm from Malky Mackay as Wigan struggle for Championship survival
Wigan Athletic have appointed club captain Gary Caldwell as manager following the sacking of former boss Malky Mackay on Monday.
Caldwell, who turns 33 on Sunday, will be formally introduced as manager of the club in a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Graham Barrow will continue in his role as Assistant Manager, alongside Eric Black as First Team Coach and Mike Pollitt as Goalkeeping Coach.
The defender was voted Wigan's Player of the Year for the 2011/12 season, but did not feature when the club won the 2013 FA Cup Final against Manchester City.
He has played 111 times for the Latic since joining from Celtic in 2010, while he also has over a half-century of caps for his nation, Scotland.
“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I wanted to move into management when the time was right,” he said.
“I didn’t expect that to come along as quickly as this but, in football, you need to take opportunities when they arise and I am honoured and excited in equal measures to take charge at the Latics, where I have shared such incredible memories over the past five years.
“We are in a really tough place at the moment, but we will approach the next five games with only one thing in mind, to win. After that, we will assess where we are and move on.”
Wigan are eight points adrift of safety with only five Championship games to play, but Latics chairman David Sharpe believes Caldwell is the right man for the job.
“He knows who we are as a football club and shares the same football philosophy," Sharpe started.
“He is a natural leader who commands respect from everyone around him.
“People will talk about his lack of experience, but every young coach is in the same place, there are many examples of young coaches being given opportunities and being successful.
“The immediate goal is clearly to do everything we can to survive in this division, starting at Fulham on Friday.
“Everyone associated with Wigan Athletic is feeling pain at the moment, but we have now taken measures to address the situation and the most important thing is that we have a definite blueprint for the future.”
Blackburn Rovers X Liverpool
Liverpool are without the suspended trio of Steven Gerrard, Martin Skrtel and Emre Can for their FA Cup quarter-final replay at Blackburn Rovers.
Boss Brendan Rodgers will also need to check on the fitness of striker Mario Balotelli after he ruled himself out of the Reds' 4-1 loss Arsenalon Saturday.
Rovers are missing the injured trio of Jason Lowe, Shane Duffy and Chris Taylor, while Grant Hanley is a doubt.
Josh King, Craig Conway, Rudy Gestede and Chris Brown face fitness tests.
Liverpool's 4-1 defeat by Arsenal on Saturday has severely damaged their prospects of finishing in the top four of the Premier League but Reds boss Brendan Rodgers is determined to bring a first trophy back to Anfield since the club won the League Cup under Kenny Dalglish in 2012.
The Reds have scored three goals in their last four games - including a 0-0 draw with Blackburn in the first meeting at Anfield.
Rodgers, whose side lost to Chelsea in the semi-finals of the Capital One League Cup, said: "The group is very committed to winning this trophy but in order to do that you have to qualify and we know Blackburn will be a difficult game for us.
"Getting to a final and winning a trophy is what we want. In terms of the FA Cup that was always an objective."
Liverpool are struggling to qualify for the Champions League after successive defeats by Manchester United and Arsenal but Blackburn manager Gary Bowyer believes talk of a potential crisis at Anfield is misplaced.
Bowyer said: "I think it's ridiculous that after losing two games, the team that was hailed prior to those two games as being the best in the Premier League - which they were at the time with the football they were playing - then comes in for that."
Blackburn, who are 10th in the Championship, have beaten Swansea and Stoke at Ewood Park in their run to the last eight.
The former Premier League champions are currently operating under a transfer embargo for breaching Financial Fair Play rules.
Bowyer added: "There's a lot been said about the injuries that we've got but I think a lot of that is a result of us being under an embargo.
"We couldn't bring players in to help us out at particular times and as a result you have players playing with niggles and knocks. The embargo, in that sense, has killed us.
A trophy this season will mark another step forward for us.”
Brendan Rodgers,Liverpool manager
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