Wigan stopper Chris Kirkland insists he is not bitter at being shown the exit door by Liverpool ahead of his return to Anfield on Wednesday.Kirkland spent five years on the Reds' books following a £6million move from Coventry in August 2001, but managed a total of just 45 appearances, primarily due to a string of injuries.

The 26-year-old did play 14 times under Rafa Benitez shortly after the Spaniard's arrival at the club prior to suffering a back injury which led to him dropping out of the picture completely.

A season-long loan spell at West Brom that was again wrecked by injury followed, prior to Kirkland moving to Wigan in the summer of 2006, again initially on loan before signing permanently.

Although his last game for Liverpool was three years ago, Kirkland has not played at Anfield since, either for the Baggies or Latics due to his injury concerns.

Despite being dumped by Benitez, Wednesday's Premier League match will still be a special one for Kirkland.

"I've nothing to prove in going back to Anfield," he said.

"I enjoyed my time there, but had to move on. That's football, although I don't think the Liverpool fans will remember me too well as I was injured quite a lot.

"But I still played around 50 games for them. What happened is one of those things. I had a lot of injuries, and when I was fit, the gaffer thought it best for me to move on.

"But I'm not bitter about it and I certainly don't regret leaving. I went to West Brom, now I'm with Wigan, and I love it.

"You never know what might have happened but for the injuries, but the facts are they happened and my time was hindered.

"As I say, I'm not sour. I just hope I get a good reception from the Kop, that would be nice.

"But the most important thing is I simply play well for Wigan."

Kirkland appreciates not many will offer relegation-threatened Wigan a prayer of beating Liverpool, despite the improvement shown recently under new manager Steve Bruce.

Saturday's home defeat to Aston Villa ended the mini-revival, but a defiant Kirkland said: "There's no reason why we can't win.

"We have to go there and do what we've done in the past few weeks because things have picked up; the training has stepped up a gear and in games we've done well.

"Even against Villa on Saturday, it was a very fine line between them, who are supposed to be one of the top six, and us who are near the bottom.

"People will write us off and say we've no chance, but why not? Bolton beat Manchester United the other week.

"If we go there and hide, then we'll get punished. You can't go to grounds like Anfield and sit back.

"We have to give our all, and if we get beaten by football then so be it. You hold your hands up and say 'fair play'."

Despite the loss to Villa dumping Wigan back in the bottom three, Kirkland is confident the Latics will again survive this season.

"Over the last few weeks, we've given ourselves a chance, and that is all you can do," he said.

"We now have to battle through these remaining 18 games, and if we do what we have been doing recently, I'm sure we'll be okay.

"We've picked up points and beaten some good teams in the last few weeks."

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