Wigan manager looking for 10 points

But Roberto Martinez does not believe today¿s crucial game with fellow stragglers Blackpool is ¿win or bust¿ for his relegation-threatened side.

Roberto Martinez insists today's crucial game with fellow stragglers Blackpool is not "win or bust" for his relegation-threatened side.

Wigan prop up the table and have been in the relegation zone for three months. They now have just six games to save their top-flight status.

The competition remains tight, however, and while recognising the importance of the clash against 17th-placed Blackpool, the Wigan manager does not want to overemphasise it.

Victory at Bloomfield Road would lift Latics above Blackpool and potentially out of the bottom three.

Said Martinez: "I wouldn't say it is win or bust, but it is quite clear we need 10 more points between now and the end of the season and we have 18 to play for.

"It is quite an exciting moment for us. In the last eight games we played five of the top six teams in the Premier League.

"That is a big ask for any football club but I think the level of performance has been good."

He said today's match "is just a very important step towards controlling your fate."

Ian Holloway, the Blackpool manager, said Martinez deserves more credit and is convinced he will go far in coaching.

"I don't think he's got anything like the credit he deserves," Holloway said.

"He's come up from two divisions down and he's taken over at a club which has sold some top-quality players.

"The football they have tried to play is quite outstanding. Unfortunately, this level is so tough and there is always going to be someone down at the bottom.

"But as football managers go, I think he is fantastic and there is no doubt in my mind that he is going to be a top, top manager - not just keeping a club in the Premier League.

"I think he will have gone an awfully long way by the time he finishes, because he is a lot younger than me and looks a lot fresher than me! He's been an inspiration to me."

Holloway's team have won only once in their last 12 games but he feels the Tangerines still have plenty of fight left in them.

"We always knew we were going to be a bit punch-drunk by the end of the season, with the level of this," he said.

"We have been on the ropes a little bit and we thought we would have been on them a lot more. We probably thought we'd be on the canvas a bit more as well, to be fair, actually knocked out at the bottom of the league. But the great thing is that we haven't been hit down yet. People have been hitting us and we've been wobbled, but that is because they are good and we are trying to get as good as them.

"But all in all, the old slugger is still standing and we have got six more punches to try to throw. And do I think we can land a couple of them? Yes I do. So let's see what happens."