• Wigan Athletic once again showed their inconsistency as they were held to a 1-1 draw by struggling Burton Albion at the DW Stadium.
• Latics threatened when Scott Smith forced a good save Max Crocombe before Matt Smith side-footed the rebound wide of the target.
• They did go ahead however from Sam Hughes’ own goal after good work by Scott Smith had created the chance just before half-time.
• The Brewers were the better team at the start of the second half and equalised on 54 minutes when captain John Brayford bundled the ball over the line following a corner.
• Latics nearly regained the lead when Scott Smith’s cross was headed against the bar by Thelo Aasgaard. Aasgaard then had a goal harshly ruled out for an alleged push and the points had to be shared.
• Latics move up to 12th place and the Brewers remain in 20th place in the League One table.

Shaun Maloney made five changes to his line up following the victory over Blackpool with Sean Clare, Charlie Goode, Tom Pearce, Jonny Smith and Charlie Kelman replacing Jason Kerr, Luke Chambers, Baba Adeeko, Jordan Jones and Martial Godo.

It was a slow opening period for both teams and it took 15 minutes for Latics to threaten the Burton goal.

Stephen Humphrys cut inside deceiving his markers but his outside of the foot shot was blocked by a defender.

At the other end Steve Seddon crossed for Mason Bennett who had a great chance but he volleyed over from 10 yards out when free inside the box.

Clare did well to keep the ball in play before feeding Humphrys whose low cross somehow crept under Crocombe and Sam Hughes had to clear the danger.

Latics were starting to play a little and Pearce combined well with Thelo Aasgaard who played a one-two with Matt Smith, but his shot deflected over.

Scott Smith then produced a powerful strike from 25-yards and Crocombe somehow managed to get a hand to the ball. Matt Smith followed up the rebound and side-footed wide of the target.

Soon afterwards Scott Smith did brilliantly to chase and win what looked like a lost cause down the right and cross towards the back post which saw Burton’s defender Hughes put the ball into his own net.

The visitors started the second half strongly and they had a huge chance as Joe Hugill found space in the box, but he volleyed against the post and the rebound from Bennett was well blocked by Goode.

Burton did draw level from a corner on 54 minutes. The corner caused trouble in the Latics box and after a goal-mouth scramble, Brayford bundled the ball into the Latics net.

Latics tried to respond and Charlie Hughes fed Kelman in behind the Burton defence, but his shot was straight at Crocombe.

At the other end, Mark Helm fired straight at Tickle, before Latics’ England U21 keeper came to the rescue to deny Steve Seddon from close range.

Latics then started to up the pressure on the Brewers goal.

Scott Smith provided an inviting cross from the right and Aasgaard headed against the crossbar. From the resulting corner Aasgaard had a goal harshly ruled out for an alleged push.

It was all Latics now and substitute Luke Chambers was denied by Crocombe as Latics pushed for a late winner.

Another substitute, Chris Sze headed over from a tight angle.

Then an Aasgaard free kick nearly found the top corner but Crocombe did well to tip over the crossbar.

In five minutes of added time substitute Martial Godo fired low ball across the box which took a deflection and somehow evaded everyone.

It was the last chance for Latics and the points had to be shared.

Overview

This was another inconsistent performance by Latics who played well in patches but not throughout.

Admittedly they have little to play for in terms of promotion and relegation, and Burton are fighting for League One survival.

Maloney made five changes to his starting line up and rested some of his midweek international players and this certainly had an impact on the performance.

Scott Smith, Charlie Hughes and Charlie Goode had impressive displays but several others didn’t perform consistently on the day.

Latics travel to Cambridge United on Easter Monday and I would expect Maloney to have a stronger team at the Abbey Stadium with Kerr, Chambers, and Godo starting.

Post match comments

Speaking to the media afterwards, Maloney was disappointed with his side’s performance in the first hour and emphasised how their mentality must improve for their Bank Holiday Monday trip to Cambridge United. 

“I liked what I saw from the team in the last 20 minutes,” he said.

“I thought the players who came on added the right intensity that we needed. I didn’t like what we saw in the first half, and I didn’t like the feel of the first 5-10 minutes in the second half.

“There are still points to be played for. Every team down at the bottom has big things to play for, and they were better than us at set pieces.

“Although the last 15 minutes felt different, we probably should’ve lost that game in terms of the chances they had, particularly the ones from set plays.

“I have to keep the same intensity. I spoke about it in the media about not concentrating too much on next season’s plans because it’s the here and now.

“The performance wasn’t great today. I can’t blame the players for that alone, it’s all of us. We can’t let games drift – we’ll never ever be good enough to drift through a game and think we can win. 

“Our performance has to be completely different (at Cambridge). If it isn’t, we can’t expect to win that game. It’s my job to ensure that the mentality is different.”

Maloney also had his say on one of the game’s key moments, as Thelo Aasgaard had a goal chalked out in the final quarter of the Sky Bet League One encounter.

“In this instance, I think the referee probably got that wrong. I’ve seen it back and I didn’t see anything too different to corners in our box. 

“Whenever they got that right or wrong, in this instance, it doesn’t cloud my judgment and we were fortunate not to lose this game.”

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