Scotland finally breaks his league duck

Things were looking so rosy at half time; Latics had just about edged proceedings thanks to a strike from Jason Scotland, his first in the league for Wigan and hopefully one of many — though the jury’s still out on that. I’m sure Wigan fans would have been much happier had the goal actually counted for something other than goal difference in the grand scheme of things, but still, nice to see a signing come good…

Scotland’s 34th minute strike came immediately after a good spell of possession for the visitors, who’d just gone close through Maynor Figueroa, this afternoon playing in a forward-thinking left wing role. Minutes later, the Trinidadian was set up by Moreno, who controlled an N’Zogbia pass nicely into his path.

There was an element of good fortune about the goal as keeper Mark Schwarzer seemed unsighted, and maybe should have done better. But still, we shan’t begrudge Jason this much sought-after strike – hopefully, now the floodgates will open and he’ll grab a hat trick against Portsmouth next week. Wishful thinking? Perhaps not.

You see, Martinez was somewhat forced into making changes to his regular playing style, resolving to pander to criticism — or perhaps necessity — and go 4-4-2 with Hugo Rodallega joining Scotland and Moreno up front from time to time. You know the drill: control the ball in the midfield area and look for the killer pass up to the front men. Scotland looks to have settled into his role well and, despite the fact it’s painfully evident he isn’t quite of the same calibre as Emile Heskey, did his job for the first 45 yesterday. Actually, I’m sure some Villa fans would beg to differ on that Heskey comment. Best to just leave it there.

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Some photographs from before the Latics-Fulham game earlier this month.

I salute thee, hardy souls! You are better men (and women) than I.

150-odd hardy souls that made the 200-mile trip north from London to Little Wigan were rewarded with a point, thanks largely to a fine show by goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer who made a string of excellent saves to keep his team in the game.

After being brutally treated by officials on Thursday in their Europa League match against Roma, the visitors were met with a somewhat kinder referee, namely one that didn’t actually send people off for the smallest of ankle taps. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Phil Dowd — who stepped into the breach at short notice in place of Mark Clattenberg — looked to keep his cards in his pocket for this mid-table clash.

Indeed, they were awarded a penalty that could be termed dubious. Reports have Titus Bramble bundling Clint Dempsey over in the penalty area, but from where I was sat, it seemed like the kind of jostling that goes on at every corner. On this precedent, one could even argue there should have been at least two or three penalties this afternoon. I may well be proved wrong by good (bad?) old Match of the Day, and if I am then you have my permission to berate me, but from my viewpoint in real time it all looked quite innocuous.

Update: So alright then, replays have shown it was indeed a penalty as Bramble chopped down Dempsey from behind. Next time I’ll resort to the Arsene Wenger ‘didn’t see it’ excuse to avoid getting egg on my face.

Dempsey stuck away the pen with aplomb, giving Fulham a great lift against the run of play. The teams had earlier traded blows up until Latics’ goal on 13 minutes, which saw Emmerson Boyce fire the ball past Schwarzer’s right hand and into the back of the net for his second of the season.

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Latics' Erik Edman is in line for a start

It feels weird waking up on the Saturday morning knowing you aren’t playing that day. Perhaps you’re out of the FA Cup in one of the early rounds or your match has been switched to a Sunday due to a European fixture — as is the case with this weekend’s Wigan v Fulham game — whatever, you get this strange empty feeling that you’re missing out on something.

It isn’t so bad during the week. Dunno about you, but even if all the other teams in the league are playing on a Tuesday or Wednesday evening and you haven’t got a match until Saturday, you don’t feel quite as left out. Maybe it’s because I support Wigan Athletic and am used to crashing out of cups in Round 1 — or in recent times Round 3 — but I find it’s a lot easier to watch other teams on the telly on a weekday knowing I don’t have to worry about my own for a while.

This was the case on Thursday when I decided to do a bit of scouting for this weekend’s match by grabbing some sandwiches and settling down in front of the box. Fulham’s match against Roma in the Europa Cup was dogged by dubious officiating, which completely ruined their chances against the former Italian champions.

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