Although the scoreline might have more than a hint of (as the mainstream rags would term) ‘what might have been’ about it, I prefer to look upon this game as another point accrued in the quest for Premier League survival.

Yes, if Wigan had taken more of their first half chances or had James McCarthy slotted past Craig Gordon when he fortuitously found himself though on goal midway through the second half, it could have been 2-0 and a similar outcome to Wolves or Burnley away: defend what you have like a miser for the remaining 30 minutes or so.

Diame’s cracking run through the opposition half and shot sliced across the Sunderland keeper into the top corner of the goal was a reflection of the good football and chances created by Wigan in the first half, and the home crowd had begun to turn against their team, as seems to happen quite a lot at Britain’s very own Stadium of Light these days.

Enter Kenwyne Jones to save the day for The Black Cats, or at least bring some semblance of respectability to the scoreline: they had their eye on three important points against a Wigan side on the rebound after the disappointment of Tuesday night. Bruce’s side showed plenty of promise but, much like the visiting side, could not muster that finishing touch when it mattered.

One each then, and plenty of time for both sides to snaffle all the points in what could prove to be a relegation battle. Unfortunately for Latics, Sunderland simply wanted it more from hereon in, and though both sides had half-opportunities I felt the home team were the more likely.

It didn’t happen, though. The game became scrappy, not at all helped by a referee who seemed to be treating his team lists as a booking checklist akin to those I-Spy books that used to be popular way before my time. Sunderland hadn’t had a win in Gawd knows how long, and Latics hadn’t tasted victory on away soil since… well, Wolves last month. But it felt the game was at a stalemate as neither team knew how, or had the good fortune, to scramble a winner.

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And let’s be honest, they probably wanted it more, too. I’m all for the magic of the FA Cup and that, but it’s absolutely humiliating when it goes against your team. On this occasion it wasn’t quite as bad as losing to Canvey Island, who (whisper it quietly) I believe were a non-league side, but it sure feels horrible.

It wouldn’t have been too bad had we managed to scrape through and got beaten by Fulham in the Fifth Round, at least there wouldn’t have been the shame of everyone coming up to you saying “haha, you’re that incompetent bunch that lost to the fifth division team aren’t you?”

Still, it was far less embarrassing than losing 9-1 to Tottenham: on that occasion we actually had a full strength team out and somehow contrived to concede that avalanche of goals, PES style, in the second half. Today’s result was more disappointing than anything.

You know how Wigan’s season has gone: it often takes a goal or spark of inspiration to get the lads playing to a decent standard. It’s a simple fact that was missing this evening – I daresay an early goal would have probably led to a 3-1 or 4-1 Wigan win as the confidence flowed, with probably even Jason Scotland getting on the scoresheet. It easily could have been, were it not for the lack of finishing instinct – oh so very close on so many occasions, but not enough experience or even luck to get the ball in the back of the net.

In fairness to County, they did and we didn’t. Simple as that. For all their shots on target and making Kasper Schmeichel work for his money on numerous occasions, Latics just could not get that crucial goal. Remind you of any other games this season? Sad to say it’s becoming all to regular.

Wigan seemed to be controlling the game, even dominating it, for the most part. The turning point came on 75 minutes when somehow the ball scraped over Stojkovic’s goal line, and like so many other matches this campaign, that truly was that. Wigan were completely shot and never really looked like scoring, a world apart from twenty minutes earlier when they laid siege to the County goalmouth, shots raining in like coins at Craig Bellamy (did anyone see that last weekend?).

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"No moles here, Gaffer, only rugby divots..."

Going into today’s game, much was made of Everton’s seven game unbeaten run. In the (somewhat subdued) build up,  I will admit I was drawn into the depths of the doom and gloom brigade – after soaking up a massive blow in losing to Blackburn midweek, surely Latics would be too punch drunk to even put one foot in front of the other, especially after drawing with lowly Notts County just last Saturday.

Well, at least someone wanted Latics to win today: dare I say it, the Man Upstairs. By which I mean the wizard that resides in the sky and loves to play with the emotions of billions of people – the bloke some people call the Football God.

It seemed much of the luck that had deserted us in late December returned in abundance as The Toffees somehow managed to go a whole 84 minutes without scoring, despite the best efforts of the likes of Saha, Cahill, Fellaini (you know, the dude with the sweet ‘fro, maaan) and the moles that live beneath the DW surface. I dunno how they got there, they must have moved in when the undersoil heating broke down earlier this month… actually, I think we’ve just found our prime culprit.

Even the officials seemed to be on Latics’ side as, midway through the second half, the ball was bundled over Stojkovic’s goal line only for the linesman stood in front of the East Stand to give us a reprieve – offside, or a foul, or something.

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Ex-Latic Jason Roberts made a cameo appearance from the bench to close out the game for Rovers.

A tough away day for the Latics saw them edged out, in the end, by two goals to one. In all fairness, though this was one of those games that could have been a vital away point, Blackburn simply had the better of a game that seemed to play out in phases.

For all the commentators’ praise of Blackburn’s bustling first half performance, things were pretty even going into the half time break. If it weren’t for a momentary brainfreeze by league débutante Vladimir Stojkovic and a well-placed strike from Pedersen, it could so easily have been 0-0 on 45, but on balance I think 1-1 would have been more of a fair score.

Both sides had decent chances, Rodallega forcing a second-minute save from Robinson and Blackburn hitting the post in the first fifteen minutes. Things continued in much the same vein, with Wigan having the most shots but, crucially, not that many challenging the Blackburn keeper.

They finally did so on 56 minutes, Caldwell bagging his first goal for the Latics with a header slotted past Robinson’s left hand. And they looked to be on the up — a renewed vigour saw them pressure the opposition goal, but not for long. Rovers found their feet again and soon grabbed a deserved goal that put them 2-1 up with less than fifteen minutes to play. Kalinic found some space from a corner and found the back of the net in a rather similar fashion to Caldwell twenty minutes earlier.

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