Sam Tickle made a brilliant save to deny Caleb Taylor

• Wigan Athletic produced a strong defensive performance to hold promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers to a 0-0 draw at Adams Park.
• In a game of few clear-cut chances Latics contained the hosts with an impressive rearguard action.
• Wycombe had an early chance when Caleb Taylor’s strike looked destined for the top corner but it was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Sam Tickle.
• In the 90th minute substitute Fred Oneydinma almost won it for Wycombe when he broke free and fired narrowly wide, but Latics held out for an important point.
• Latics remain in 16th place and Wycombe in second place in the League One table.

Shaun Maloney named an unchanged starting line-up from the midweek 1-1 draw at Crawley Town.

The hosts started strongly and a free kick from the left after just two minutes found Caleb Taylor whose effort looked destined for the top corner but it was brilliantly tipped over by Tickle.

A Josh Scowen volley then shaved the top of the crossbar as Latics had to survive some early pressure from the in-form Chairboys.

Latics struggled to build any momentum in the first half but they were solid defensively and were able to frustrate the hosts.

Wycombe’s first attempt of the second half came on 52 minutes as Cameron Humphreys drove a low shot towards goal, which Tickle did well to save with his legs.

Latics briefly threatened when Owen Dale forced a save from Will Norris as they upped their game early in the second half.

Substitute Onyedinma nearly got in behind the Latics defence, but Tickle was quick off his line to block his shot with 15 minutes remaining.

Latics were pushing for a late winner, but were nearly caught on the counter attack in the 90th minute as Onyedinma fired narrowly wide of Tickle’s far post.

An important point gained against strong opposition as Latics look to avoid getting dragged into a relegation battle.

Overview

This was a hard-fought point for Latics against a side who are pushing for automatic promotion and who are unbeaten in their last 17 league games played on a Saturday.

Latics defended superbly and contained a team who have scored 58 goals, the highest scoring team in the division.

The back four were at their best and limited the hosts to very few chances and when called upon Sam Tickle made one brilliant save.

Captain Jason Kerr and Will Aimson were at their efficient best, Jon Mellish had his best game for Latics so far and the much maligned Toby Sibbick put in a solid display.

After such a good display it was a little disappointing to see that Latics gap to the bottom four had been reduced to only four points but they do have games in hand on most of the teams below them.

Maloney’s men will be hoping to continue the good work when they face promotion-chasing Huddersfield Town who surprisingly lost to Peterborough United, at the Brick Community Stadium on Tuesday night. 

League Table

Post match comments

Speaking post-game to the media, Maloney credited his players for their relentless work off the ball and believed that they showed a different side in terms of their mentality. 

“We had to work hard for that,” he told the media.

“The performance with the ball can definitely be better – but I really enjoyed what we did without the ball.

“I didn’t like the first 10 minutes, but after that, we didn’t give up big chances. Three or four weeks ago, we would’ve lost that game. 

“In a really hard match, I really enjoyed what the players gave. They gave the supporters absolutely everything. 

“The boys were dead on their feet at the end. I get a big satisfaction from watching them defend like that – this team is new together but they’re growing together. 

“In a really good way, I liked how we defended, in a game where we had to defend. We showed a side to us that we probably have seen all season, and I really liked it.

“They (the fans) will definitely be happy with a point, like us. We can definitely play better, but they’ve seen games like that this season where we’ve got beat. We showed a side to us that I haven’t seen in this group. 

“It wasn’t a classic in terms of us with the ball, but we were very good without the ball.”

Player ratings

Player ratings courtesy of Whoscored.com