Harbinger Of Glory

Outside the training grounds, the game had already become something much larger.

Online, nobody seemed particularly interested in waiting for ninety minutes to decide who was better.

Liverpool supporters were confident.

Very confident.

This is where the streak ends.

No disrespect to Wigan, but they’ve played nobody like Liverpool. Salah will have a field day.

Van Dijk and Konaté will deal with their forwards, and Mac Allister will control that midfield out of that kid’s hands!

And when Diaz starts running at them, goodnight.

Other Liverpool fans pointed to Alisson, Trent and the depth available to Klopp, but the Wigan supporters had their own answers.

Leo has scored against better defenders than this. Okay, he hasn’t, but you get the point!

Carlo is going to cook that fraud of a leftback in Trent!

Ezra has been ridiculous all season, and Ben Amos has the most clean sheets in the league for a reason.

The arguments spread from social media to supporter forums and eventually into ordinary conversations around Wigan.

Nobody agreed on the result, but almost everyone agreed on one thing.

Sunday was the peak of everything that had happened so far for the Wigan fans.

By Saturday night, the anticipation had reached the point where nobody needed to explain it.

The game was coming.

And on Sunday morning, the streets around Wigan began filling long before the team bus was due to leave.

By the time the players arrived at the stadium, the roads around the DW Community Stadium were already packed.

The bus moved slowly at first but then barely at all.

Supporters stood behind barriers, on pavements and outside nearby businesses, many of them wearing Wigan shirts.

From the bus, Jake looked out of the window and wondered if Wigan even had this many fans.

"How many people actually fit in this stadium?"

Carlo glanced over.

"Twenty-five thousand, isn’t it?"

"Something like that."

Jake looked back outside and then nodded outside.

"Where are all these people supposed to go?"

The bus eventually reached the entrance, and when the doors opened, the fans went berserk.

"LEO!"

"CARLO!"

"EZRA!"

"CALDERON"

"REYES!"

"AMOS!"

"LEO"

Leo smiled as he walked toward the entrance, following suit as his mates signed jerseys and took pictures with fans.

Through it, a supporter held out a shirt, which he stopped and signed.

Another asked for a photograph, then another.

A young boy held a programme against the barrier with both hands, and once more, Leo took it, signed the front and handed it back.

"Thank you!"

"No problem. Have fun watching the game!"

He moved on afterwards, though the noise followed him all the way toward the tunnel.

Eventually, he signed one final jersey, handed the pen back and raised a hand toward the supporters.

They reached the dressing room and the atmosphere inside was already different from an ordinary matchday.

There was less joking as the players changed into their warm-up gear.

While the preparations went on, Nolan appeared at the door and called out, "Leo."

Leo looked up and found Nolan as the latter nodded outside once!

"Dawson wants you for a minute."

Leo’s brow furrowed as he wondered what was going on!

"For what?"

"He needs you to step in for him in another interview, as he’s still in the media room."

"Then how did he tell you if he’s being kept there?" Leo wondered as the room went strangely quiet.

He looked around, but nobody looked at him.

Well, except for Jake and Reyes, but after their previous stunts at interviews, Dawson had banned them.

Even Darikwa, the captain, had somehow disappeared into the showers despite having been sitting beside him seconds earlier.

Leo stared at the room and then shook his head!

He looked at Nolan and then rose to his feet!

"Come on."

"Traitors," Leo called out as a few players laughed at him.

Just a few metres later, Leo found where the interview would be going on, with cameras pointed toward a backdrop covered in the logos of the day’s broadcast partners.

A male reporter was midway through an introduction when Leo stepped into frame.

"And now we have Wigan star Leo Calderon with us."

Leo nodded toward him.

"Hello."

"Leo, good to have you."

"Thanks."

The reporter then turned towards the camera, but he didn’t waste much time setting the pace of the interview.

"There were quite a few fans who noticed you didn’t look like yourself against Aston Villa. Dawson eventually took you off at half-time. Can you tell us what was going on?"

Leo gave a small snort.

"Yeah. I was ill."

The reporter raised his eyebrows.

"Ill?"

"I’d been feeling feverish before the game. I told the staff I could play, so I played."

He shrugged.

"Probably wasn’t my best decision."

The reporter smiled.

"What was wrong?"

"Malaria."

Leo noticed a pause before going on.

"I’ve been treated for it, though. I’m feeling much better now."

He looked directly toward the camera.

"So nobody needs to worry. I’m alright."

The reporter nodded and then continued.

"Good to hear. Now, this is obviously a huge game. Liverpool against Wigan, first against one of the most established teams in the country. How do you see it?"

Leo glanced toward the pitch.

"We’ve prepared well."

"And Liverpool?"

"They’ll have prepared well too."

"So you think it’s going to be close?"

"I think both teams are going to fight for it."

The reporter smiled at Leo’s escape from his attempt to bait him.

"And what would it mean to keep this run going against Liverpool?"

Leo’s expression changed slightly.

"It would be nice."

"Just nice?" the reporter said with a laugh.

"Okay, very nice," Leo smiled.

"But we’re not going into it thinking about the streak. We’re thinking about the game. If we play well, then hopefully we can keep it going."

The reporter asked a few more questions about Liverpool’s attack, Wigan’s defensive record and the pressure that came with being league leaders, and Leo answered each one without trying to turn anything into a headline.

Eventually, the reporter thanked him, and Leo finally walked off right as the Wigan players appeared in view.

"How was it?" Ezra asked when Leo got near!

"Fine," Leo said right as Carlo walked past them, tugging on a pair of gloves for warmth.

"Yeah, it’s fine until they turn it into something completely different tomorrow."

Ezra laughed at that as Leo shook his head.

"I didn’t say anything interesting."

"That’s never stopped them before."

They joined the rest of the squad as the players began moving toward the tunnel and the noise grew with every step.

They reached the stairs, and there, it felt like the crowd were right there in your ears!

When Leo reached the top, the sound hit him all at once.

The DW Community Stadium was full, beyond full.

Blue and white filled the stands, with Liverpool’s travelling support packed into their section on the opposite side.

In the stand, the Liverpool supporters were already singing, but it was hard to beat the vigour of the home crowd.

Leo looked toward the Liverpool players warming up on the other side of the pitch and stared at them as he walked to join the rest of the Wigan players who were warming up.

There was suddenly nothing more left to prepare for, and it was now time to show results!