Man of the match Stephen Warnock – Photo courtesy of Wigan Athletic.

Match report by Jamie Aspinall

This was a stale encounter between a Wigan side that tried to play possession football but struggled with the creativity to produce any clear cut chances and a QPR side that were tough and resolute without producing any real quality, albeit they managed to take the decisive chance when it came at the beginning of the second half through their captain Nedum Onuoha

Gary Caldwell had keeper Adam Bogdan playing passes out of the defence and building through the midfield with Nick Powell in particular dropping deeper than many fans would’ve liked to have seen him.

Will Grigg seemed very isolated up front despite his hard work and tenacious attitude to try to muster a real effort on goal, it felt like Wigan lacked a spark to make the difference in the game.

QPR were particularly strong with their tackling and pressure on the ball which restricted the flow of Wigan’s footballing methods and resulted in limited moments of entertainment and quality.

To most spectators it was a dull affair although looking at the Wigan squad there were some moments of great possession football and control on the ball, if only there had been another gear to step up the intensity and put real pressure on the QPR side that in this game showed limited requirement to attack.

The players trying to make a go of it were Michael Jacobs and Powell with their darting runs and clever through balls respectively.

Grigg was often closely marked and unable to feed off the scraps available. It called out for either a strong target man up front to hold up and link the play with Grigg or a fearless attacking midfielder such as Conor McAleny of past, to sit behind Grigg and take some shots on goal.

The tempo became pedestrian at times, the mood of the team did not seem as confident as it can be but the nucleus of the team has the potential to perform better than was exhibited today.

The addition of a central defender and an attacking midfielder or striker before the end of the transfer window would help the squad to progress this season rather than just consolidating.

With the fans favourite of Jordi Gomez and the star quality of Nick Powell back at the club it is a good time to make a fist of pushing on and feeding off the positivity of last season’s title winning success, as without any further additions the squad looks thin and particularly the defence will struggle to cope with the intensity and range of footballing styles present in the Championship.

Man of the match Stephen Warnock admitted that the team had worked on their defensive duties to try to restrict the number of chances from the opposition but it was another soft goal that cost them dearly.

Let’s hope Caldwell has some signings in the pipeline, such as a Jason Pearce type character and a Conor McAleny talent to bolster the team so that we can become a force at the right end of the table. We await developments with anticipation.