At Manchester City's training ground, the mood was considerably different from what much of the outside world had expected.
The club had brought the players in despite having a day less to recover than Arsenal and Wigan, and the decision had raised a few eyebrows.
Manchester City had been due to play a day after the Arsenal-Wigan game and had already gone through their match, leaving them with less time between fixtures and a demanding game of their own still ahead.
Ordinarily, that might have been enough for some of the discussion around the fixture to drift toward rotation and caution.
Instead, the talk had been about Wigan.
The club's statement regarding Leo Calderon's ankle had spread quickly, and with Fletcher also having taken a knock during training, there was already a growing feeling that Wigan would welcome Manchester City with a weakened side.
And perhaps, that it was time that they joined the rest of the teams in losing their unbeaten run.
