Roberto Martinez feels Wigan’s position may prove beneficial in the long run because their predicament is all too clear.
A 3-1 defeat by Tottenham on Tuesday left the Latics three points adrift at the bottom of the English Premier League table and five points from safety.
There is no doubt about their target for the last 15 games of the season, and Martinez, who saw his side escape relegation on the final day of the last campaign, believes the single focus will help.
He said: “It’s not where we are in the table now, it’s where we’re going to finish in May, and what we do know is what we’ve been through in the last two seasons is not a position we want to be in.
“We all understand that we want to progress as a football club and get into a position where we can be an established Premier League team but we’re in a situation we have to get out of.
“We’ve got 15 opportunities to get as many points as we can and there’s nothing else we can do.
“For me it’s easier to be in this position rather than in another position in the table where you feel that you’ve achieved your aim and you haven’t.
“We’ve got a really strong focus on the next game, for us Everton is a cup final in the middle of the season and we need to make sure we treat it that way.”
Wigan have picked up three points from their last eight games, a run interrupted only by an FA Cup defeat at npower League Two Swindon.
Everton, meanwhile, go into Saturday’s match at the DW Stadium on a high following Tuesday’s victory over league leaders Manchester City.
Martinez said: “Winning a game against the league leaders is probably the best dose of confidence and belief that you can add to a group, so they are in a very good moment, they got a very good win against Fulham as well in the FA Cup, so they are on a very good run of results.
“But it doesn’t matter what run of results Everton are on, you know you’ll always find it difficult.
“They’re always competitive, always really difficult to play against and it’s going to be no different on Saturday.
“But I do think probably the advantage we’ve got being in the position that we’re in now is we don’t have to worry too much about the opposition.
“Every game we need to be perfect, every game we need to be brave, arrogant and believe in ourselves and try to be as good as we can to get results.
“What I like about the group is we went to White Hart Lane and we were very disappointed with the result at the end of it, and not many people away from that dressing room would have believed Wigan Athletic has got the right to get a positive result at White Hart Lane.”
The Latics will have key midfielder Mohamed Diame back after his return from the African Nations Cup while Hugo Rodallega, Franco Di Santo and David Jones are expected to be fully fit and Antolin Alcaraz (groin) may also be involved.
