Martinez sure of beating drop
Latics, who avoided the drop only on the final day of last season, are bottom of Premier League heading into Saturday's crucial encounter at fellow strugglers QPR.
Martinez's men, with just 15 points from 21 games and numerous statistics against them, are many bookmakers' favourites to finish last but the Spaniard is taking no notice.
He said: "I think stats are there to be broken. We are the type of football club that keep doing that, season after season.
"We know exactly what we have got to do.
"We have got our own targets and that is what we base our success on. In many ways, the more stats against us the better.
"I don't think we need any more motivation - football itself is a real challenge.
"The bigger the challenge, the bigger the response at our football club and that will always be the case.
"We have always had that in our DNA. We are a fighting club. We need to defy the odds and the players know that.
"We have been through an unbelievable experience in the last campaign and that served us well."
Wigan have not been out of the bottom three since October but it is a position they have grown accustomed to.
They endured long spells in the drop zone last term before dramatically leaping to safety with a narrow final day win at Stoke.
Martinez, whose success in avoiding relegation last year led to overtures from Aston Villa, said: "I don't think you can buy the experience of what we felt in that moment.
"Even the young players in the squad are well prepared and are ready to go through any difficulty in football because of what we enjoyed in the last two seasons.
"The players are ready to be professional and as good as they can be."
Martinez still has time before the closure of the January transfer window to make changes to his squad for the remainder of the season.
He is keen to act but insists he only needs to make minor adjustments.
Martinez said: "It is not about finding a super player that can come in and save our season. That is not the way we are or the way we work.
"With any window, we need to take it to our advantage as much as we can.
"It is not just a window to bring players in just for the sake of it.
"That can have a negative effect - as much as finding the right ones can have a positive effect.
"We don't make rash decisions, everything has to be well measured.
"Maybe a bit of help to the players we have got at the club would be welcome in the next 17 games."