Steve Bruce is hopeful Wigan can secure Premier League survival at Aston Villa on Saturday and avoid having to endure more final-day drama.Last season, Latics stayed up at Sheffield United's expense after pulling off a nerve-wracking 2-1 win away to the Blades.

Should their relegation fight again go down to the wire this term, they may need to avoid defeat in their home clash against title-chasing Manchester United.

However, the Latics are in a much stronger position than last year and could have secured their top-flight status for another season with victory at home to Reading last week.

A goalless draw left them five points above the drop zone heading into the final two games.

Yet, even if Wigan are still not safe when they host United, Bruce is confident they will do enough.

"If it goes down to the final game then we've got to be prepared for that," he said.

"We don't want it to, that's for sure, but if needs be, we might have to do it.

"We'll have to prepare in the right way next week, but it'll be nice to put it to bed this weekend.

"We had an opportunity last weekend and didn't take it, but here we are again."

Wigan have 37 points and just one more could be enough, although the Latics will be guaranteed survival if third-bottom Birmingham fail to beat second-bottom Fulham at Craven Cottage on Saturday.

"It's a huge game," said Bruce. "I would have thought that the result of that will determine a lot of things.

"Bolton and Reading both have home games, which they'll be targeting for their points, but as I've said all along, I've set the target of 38 points and it's whether we can get there.

"We've edged and crept towards it progressively over the last few months and let's hope on Saturday that we can get that point, if a point will be enough."

Should Wigan secure safety this weekend then Bruce can begin discussions with chairman Dave Whelan over potential transfer targets for next season.

However, the Latics are on the verge of making their first summer signing, with 23-year-old midfielder Hendry Thomas set to become the third Honduras international at the club following the arrival of Wilson Palacios and Maynor Figueroa in January.

"We know what we want to do but it's a waste of time talking to the chairman until we're safe, so let's hope I can sit down with him next week," said Bruce.

"We're close to tying up a deal with Thomas though. We've been over to Honduras in the last week or so.

"With our links through Palacios, we're expanding into a market which nobody seems to have tapped into.

"But Honduras are in the top 40 in the world as a footballing nation. They've just had a couple of good results against Colombia and will be playing in the World Cup qualifiers.

"It's something which we're looking at and he's somebody we're interested in because he is a very good player.

"We'll see if we can do something when the transfer window opens again."

Bruce added: "We've got a nucleus here of a very decent team.

"If we stay up then obviously we can have a go again, which makes the squad bigger and better equipped to deal with the Premier League."

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