• Wigan Athletic moved off the bottom and three places up the League One table after an unconvincing 3-2 victory against Bromley at the Brick Community Stadium.
• The visitors went ahead after only six minutes when Mitch Pinnock’s long throw found Kamarl Grant, who steered the ball home.
• The hosts drew level after 18 minutes when Christian Saydee converted from close range after good work by Connor Barrett down the right.
• K’Marni Miller put Latics ahead on 23 minutes after Reggie Walsh’s shot had been tipped onto the crossbar by Grant Smith.
• But just when it looked like Latics would go onto extend their lead Bromley drew level at the end of the first half through George Saville.
• The visitors pressed forward in the second half and it was against the run of play when Brad Burrowes put Latics ahead from close range.
• The hosts rode their luck as the half progressed and despite some uneasy defending survived to record an important three points.
• Latics are now in 21st place and Bromley bottom of the League One table.

Gary Caldwell made three changes to the team which lost at Leicester with Max Power, Charlie Gray and Christian Saydee coming in to replace Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen, Dara Costelloe and  Scott Hogan. 

The first chance of the game fell to the visitors after a corner was met by Adam Jackson, who headed over from eight-yards out. 

It was an early warning and the visitors went ahead soon afterwards when a long throw into the area found Grant unmarked who finished from eight-yards out.

Latics responded quickly and were level through Saydee on 18 minutes after Barrett’s cross found him at the unmarked at the back post.

Saydee almost added another when Miller raced down the left and crossed but Smith somehow saved the former Portsmouth striker’s close range effort.

But moments later Latics had their second as Burrowes crossed into the area for Walsh and his powerful strike was tipped onto the bar by Smith before Miller followed up to head home for his first senior goal for the club.

Would Latics now go on to press home their advantage? The answer was no.

They showed their defensive brittleness once again as Bromley equalised. Latics failed to clear their lines and Saville was allowed the space to pounce 

In the second half the visitors looked dangerous going forward as Latics dropped deeper.

But on a 58 minutes a Latics counterattack resulted in the crucial third goal.

Miller drove a low cross into the area, which found Barrett and he set up Burrowes, who finished past Smith for his first goal for Latics.

Burrowes nearly added a fourth goal when he drove forward into the final third and his strike from the edge of the box produced a good diving save from Smith.

But the visitors continued to enjoy greater possession and pressed for an equaliser in the remaining minutes.

Substitute Victor Adeboyejo, tried his luck from distance but his strike missed the target.

Despite the nervy ending Latics survived and moved off the bottom of the table and in the process dropped Bromley to the bottom.

Overview

Despite Caldwell’s pre-match comments to the contrary this was a must-win for his team. 

A defeat at home against struggling and manager-less Bromley would have been a disaster.

Latics started poorly and conceded an early soft goal. Fortunately they reacted well and got ahead with goals from Saydee and Miller but once again they gifted Bromley an equaliser when they failed to clear their lines.

In the second half the visitors looked dangerous going forward and Latics were a little fortunate to be ahead through Burrowes.

As the half progressed Latics dropped deeper and looked uncomfortable. Against a better team they would’ve conceded.

It was a nervy finish for the fans. If they are to progress they must learn how to manage out games when they’re ahead. 

Latics will need to be much better against Mansfield at the Brick Community Stadium on Tuesday night if they are to achieve back-to-back wins.

Post-match comments 

Speaking to the media after the game, Caldwell said:

“The grey hairs are definitely coming!

“It was a crazy game, where I thought we had moments of some sensational play, moments of madness, moments of pure play, but we’ve won the game, and I think we deserved to.

“I think some of our attacking play in moments was exceptional, and I thought K’Marni (Miller) and Brad (Burrowes) were a constant threat. We scored good goals, and we could have scored more, so we deserved to win the game.

“The reaction was incredible. We spoke about it during the week about not giving the opposition anything, and we did that straight away.

“It shows the mentality of the group though; it didn’t take us out of our stride, and we didn’t try something different.

“We committed to the game plan, and I thought the wingback and 10 combinations down the side were good. Having Connor and Brad on one side, and K’Marni and Reggie on the other was a constant threat.

“We kept playing our game, kept playing through them, and we scored our goals.”

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