adminWIGAN. – Shaun Maloney hailed his Wigan Athletic players for being “immense from the very first whistle” as they kept their faint survival hopes alive by winning 1-0 at Stoke in an English Championship match on Tuesday night.
Will Keane’s goal 10 minutes after the restart be enough to give Latics, who are captained by Tendayi Darikwa, their first away win in more than six months.
It means they take their survival fight into the weekend, with Millwall due at the DW, and Maloney pushed all the plaudits on to his players.
“It was obviously a very important win,” the Latics boss said.
“Obviously a few days ago we had a big disappointment at Blackpool.
“But the attitude of the players and the performance tonight, it was immense from the very first whistle.
“We had to defend at times, and at other times we had to play.
“But at both ends, I couldn’t have asked any more of my players.
“They demand a huge amount of credit, it was a brilliant performance.”
Maloney has steadfastly maintained Latics would have chances to win all their remaining fixtures, and that remains his viewpoint.
“Mathematically, it’s still definitely on,” he added.
“If we perform like we did tonight, if we have the attitude and the mentality, and we have the quality at both ends…you know with the club, anything is possible.”
Latics almost went behind with barely 30 seconds on the clock – and had a very familiar face to thank for not doing so.
However, instead of shooting for goal, he tried to tee up colleague Bersant Celina, only for the pass to be intercepted before it reached him.
At the other end, James McClean — being booed on his return to Stoke — saw a cross fumbled by Jack Bonham, who managed to recover the ball just before Josh Magennis slid in.
That was about it in terms of action for the first half, with neither side able to get much going in attack.
All that changed 10 minutes after the restart, with Latics managing to nose in front.
Max Power’s cross was superbly controlled by Keane, who swivelled and found the bottom corner of the net with a clinical finish.
Darikwa vented his displeasure to team-mate Omar Rekik for the lapse, but the Latics sheet remained clean. – Wigan Today.
Online Reporter