Wigan remain in their relegation fight after a draw with Aston Villa The home side's poor record against the Latics also continued, and they have now failed to beat Wigan at home in a league game in six attempts. N'Zogbia overcame a dead leg to play for the visitors and he did not take long to make an impact when Wigan midfielder Tom Cleverly robbed Kyle Walker, and Rodallega combined with Moses, who slipped in N'Zogbia to send a left-footed shot into the far corner after 10 minutes. It was a promising foundation for the visitors to build on but, with only one clean sheet from their last 18 games, Wigan quickly lost their advantage. Ashley Young picked himself up from a foul and touched the ball to Stiliyan Petrov from the free-kick before curling in a low shot past the despairing dive of Al Habsi. Al Habsi fared better when his quick reactions helped fend away an eight-yard shot from Emile Heskey. who then lost his temper at referee Mike Jones after a foul was not given in his favour. The striker was lucky to escape a red card for squaring up to Jones as he was booked, Heskey was replaced by Marc Albrighton at the interval and, with each side sensing the prospect of victory, each tried to engineer a telling opening. Villa almost did so when Bent tackled Gary Caldwell before being denied a tap-in when Ashley Young's low cross was intercepted. Wigan responded when Rodallega latched on to a Franco di Santo flick-on before swivelling and shooting in an effort which went wide for the visitors. The miss was almost punished when Ashley Young played Bent through on goal only for the England striker's sidefooted shot being crucially saved by Al Habsi in the last chance of the match.
Beat West Ham and you should get out of it, I feel. Stoke will be in an FA cup coma of delirium or misery. Either way they will be there for the taking.
