Latics mauled by Tigers

Latics lack of strength in depth was cruelly exposed by Hull City tonight when a team showing 8 changes from the starting line up against West Ham laboured to a disappointing one nil defeat in front of a sparse JJB crowd.

Wigan started off brightly playing the ball on the floor. Camara making a welcome return and looking very sharp,

Hull set the store out in the first minute when Brown was bundled to the floor which was a foul to everyone in the ground except the referee again another pattern set for the game.

The writing was on the wall after about 20 minutes when Hall let Hull in one on one with Pollitt who pulled off a superb save.

Latics also had chances and no one expected the game to go into half time scoreless. The goal when it came had a touch of farce about it.

A miscued clearance by Melchiot spun out of the area to Elliot who by either luck or design beat Pollitt and Hull were one nil up.

Wigan fans hoping that this would galvanise the team into action were disappointed, the team lapsing into playing high balls for Folan and Camara to chase. This is not Camara's forte and he quickly faded as the quality balls dried up.

The second half started much the same as the first ended with lots of effort from Wigan but little skill.

Cotterill produced a moment of class when a weaving run from the half way line ended up with him being brought down on the edge of the penalty area.

To everyone's surprise the referee waved play on Cotterill being booked for his protests.

Boyce looked tired in his first outing of the season and limped off in the second half to be replaced by Koumas with Kilbane moving back to left back.

Shortly after Camara went off and Aghahowa came on. Julius wasted a good chance within two minutes of coming on when put through he blazed wide.

The clock was ticking down and Wigan were getting more desperate, a rasping shot by Kilbane being tipped over by Boaz Myhill once a Wigan target.

The final whistle brought relief from the purgatory and hopefully will have galvanised Mr Whelan and CH to buy several players before the deadline.

Overall, a poor performance with too many players not good enough for the premier league. A wake up call for the management

Andreas Granqvist... best player on the field once again but didn`t have much competition 7
... one superb save, could do nothing about the goal... ... tried hard but didn`t link up as well with Cotterill as with Valencia... ... played out of position and not fit, it showed... ... poor game, made several costly errors and nearly scored a superb own goal... ... worked hard and looked a better player when he was moved back to left back... ... looked off the pace and on this showing is not premier league material ... ...worked hard with little support... ... can be brilliant or frustratingly greedy, was both tonight.... ... ran around a lot, kept quiet by a muscular defence... ... 20 minute cameo in the first half and then faded... ...best player on the field once again but didn`t have much competition... ... injected a bit of class into midfield, switched into the centre with Brown... ... missed a golden chance, another one not good enough for the premier league...

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