Martinez wary of revitalised Reds

Martinez wary of revitalised Reds

Published Nov. 10, 2010 7:16 a.m. ET

However, he is looking for the same "complete performance" against them from his players on Wednesday night. The Reds were on a downward spiral under Rafael Benitez when they were defeated by Martinez's side in March, on their way to a disappointing seventh-place finish in the Premier League. Since then the Merseysiders have changed their management and ownership, and on Wednesday evening Roy Hodgson will take them back to the scene of that result in good form. After a poor start to the 2010-11 campaign, Liverpool have won their last three league fixtures, including an impressive 2-0 triumph over champions Chelsea on Sunday. Martinez has played down talk of the Latics repeating last year's feat, although he knows the potential is within his team to cause another upset. "You need to remember there is a different manager in charge for Liverpool and they do things slightly differently - those little things are important," Martinez said. "But it has been mentioned at the training ground about what happened last season and the feeling we had. "It was probably one of our best performances in the last campaign in terms of a total, complete performance and that is something we are capable of doing." Martinez feels if Wigan are to halt Liverpool's momentum - and hoist themselves out of the bottom three - they will need luck to be on their side rather than desert them as it did in their 2-1 defeat at Blackburn on Saturday when Charles N'Zogbia had what would have been the opening goal disallowed for an apparent foul in the build-up. "Looking at the Liverpool side now, they play with huge energy and confidence - they were a joy to watch against Chelsea and you can start to see Roy Hodgson's hand on that side," Martinez said. "Sometimes in football you need to be lucky and have a little bit of luck when you play the top sides - it is really important. "I think we need to carry on with what we are good at - be stubborn, show good arrogance on the ball and make sure that we show we are playing at home. "On the other side you need to understand that you are playing against an outstanding team with fantastic talent, and they are in a very good moment of form. "That always has to be in mind, and it would be a big difference playing Liverpool six weeks ago to playing them now. "But we are ready and we are hurt from what happened at the weekend. "It is the moment not to drop our standards and make sure we change that feeling around the football club quickly."

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