Wigan boss Steve Bruce has set his new team a target of more than doubling their points tally in the next month to have a chance of avoiding the drop.

The Latics go into Saturday's derby clash with Blackburn Rovers at the JJB Stadium with a miserable total of just nine points after losing nine of their last 10 games.

And Bruce is demanding that they stop the rot and start making a run of home matches count in a bid to edge nearer to safety.

He said: "You go back to the start of the season and Wigan were top of the table: won two, drawn one and things were going well.

"All of a sudden in 10 games, which can happen in the Premier League, we have got ourselves a single point against Man City a couple of weeks ago.

"So it is a difficult challenge ahead. We have got to arrest it quickly and get back into that pack.

"We have got four out of the next six at home and we have got to come out of the game at Derby on January 15 with 10 or 11 more points.

"If we do that we will have 20 points and then we will give ourselves a chance of getting out of the situation we are in."