Ian Evatt wants to ‘set the record straight’ when Wanderers head to derby rivals Wigan.
The injury-hit Whites were left smarting by a 4-0 home defeat by Wigan last October.
And Evatt knows his team needs to try and make amends when they head to the DW Stadium for Saturday’s lunch-time kick-off.
“We let ourselves down and let the fans down,” said the Wanderers’ boss, who has significantly strengthened his squad since that dark day in autumn.
“It wasn’t really a 4-0 game but to get beat heavily to your rivals on your own patch isn’t ever a good thing.
“It hurt us all – the fans included. We want to put that right and set the record straight.
“It’s a real good marker as to how far we have evolved and come as a team.
“They are in the automatic promotion spots at the moment. That’s where we want to get to.
“It will be a good benchmark to see how far we’ve come.”
While Wigan could hit top spot in League One, Wanderers are chasing points to keep this season’s play-off places in view.
Evatt’s men may have too much to do to close an 11-point gap with just seven games to go.
But after just three defeats since mid-January, Wanderers are aiming to finish on a high and will be seeking a third successive away win before big back-to-back home games against Portsmouth and Sheffield Wednesday.
“We’ve had a good run, whether it’s good enough I don’t know, but we’re going to do our best and it starts with a big game on Saturday and we have to go and compete,” added Evatt, who will take charge of Wanderers for the 100th time.
“We want to be involved in these big games. This is a big, big football club and you have to play in big games and win big games.
“That’s what’s expected of you so we’ll be going there on Saturday to play our way.
“We will not change for anybody, we’ll try and implement our game plan and style on them and hopefully that’s enough on the day.
“It’s a crazy league. This season I think the high 30s will probably keep you up and you’re probably going to need 80 points to get into the play-offs.
“All we can do is win all seven and hope. That’s the target, that’s the ambition. It’s going to be challenging but this is a big week and come the end of this week, we could be right in the mix, providing we do the business.”
To watch the manager’s pre-match interview, click HERE