Wigan manager Shaun Maloney admitted the 1-0 Sky Bet League One victory over Reading – which opens up an eight-point buffer over their fourth-bottom opponents – was a “really big win” in a “really big game”.
Norway Under-21 international Thelo Aasgaard scored what proved to be the only goal just after the half-hour mark with a brilliant strike from the edge of the area.
Despite the visitors coming on strong in the second half, they were unable to restore parity, with Young England goalkeeper Sam Tickle making an outstanding save at the end to deny Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan.
“It was a really big win, you could probably tell by the second half, and the anxiety in the stands,” said Maloney.
“It was a really big game, and we had to show both sides.
“The first half, I really liked, we created two or three opportunities that, on another day if we’d taken, could have made it a very different story.
“But that’s football, Reading knew it was a big game as well, and they threw everything at us in that second half.
“We required a big save from our goalkeeper right at the end, and also a massive amount of effort across the board.
“We had to show both sides today, because there’s not too much between the two teams.
“I like their manager, I like how he coaches, and thankfully we came out on the positive side of the result.
“We got beat 2-0 at Reading just before Christmas, and I was actually really happy with the way we played in large parts of the game.
“The first half here felt similar, very good defensively, but this time we had a little bit more in attack.”
For Reading boss Ruben Selles – with even more off-field worries to contend with than on -field – it was a case of what might have been.
“I think we did enough to get a point there, we certainly created enough situations,” he said.
“The first half was 50/50, there were some moments for us and some moments for them.
“We had a big chance just before the half-time, and then they score their goal.
“The second half we dominated the game and we created plenty of situations.
“Of course, we can do even more, but I think we did enough to pick up at least one point.
“We are working day to day at the moment, every thought has been about today, and now it switches to tomorrow.
“We will see what that brings, and at all times trying to focus on the football rather than the other things.
“But I don’t want to keep on making excuses for not getting points, because I think we are good enough to play against most teams and compete against them.”
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