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?).

But as has been mentioned, there was nobody in the Wigan lineup who could land that killer punch. For all their neat passing and tidy defending (well, for 65 minutes, anyway), Wigan just lacked someone to put the ball into the net. Someone like… Hugo Rodallega, who only came on when it was waaaaay too late and the tie was all but settled. At least he’ll be well rested for Saturday’s (more important) match against Sunderland, I suppose.

Jason Scotland, Paul Scharner and Scott Sinclair all had excellent chances but to nobody’s surprise, they only succeeded in finding the empty — well, save for a large replica kit flag type thing draped across the seats — South Stand on each and every occasion. A plucky Notts County held on and rode Wigan’s inability to find the onion bag, and even had a decent chance or two of their own, Lee Hughes’ well placed shot that forced Stojkovic into a decent save probably being the most memorable. Their best spell of pressure came around the 75 minute mark when Wigan capitulated — again succumbing to corners — but by this time the game really should have been put to bed.

Could Roberto Martinez’ twin signings of Moses and Moreno have made that difference? Maybe, if only they had the chance to play this evening. Still, there are no excuses – the team fielded should have been more than good enough to beat Notts County, and then some.

Positive note: Wigan got further than Manchester United and Liverpool in this year’s FA Cup. Negative note: nobody will give a monkey’s about that. What now? Well, time to continue rebuilding the club and try to quietly chalk this up as a failure… though I get the feeling we haven’t heard the last of this result.

Update 3/2: thankfully the press is more interested in John Terry, so we may be saved further national embarrassment on this one.

Pull yourself together, people, we have a league to stay in here! Notts County would be way more grateful of the cash generated by a cup tie, but we’ve got bigger fish to fry. Only problem is, I get the feeling we need to turn up the heat if we want to continue competing in this league.

[Is shot for finishing on the worst joke, if you could call it that, in the history of man]

Antonio Amaya: have we seen the last of him?

Somehow, Latics are still in this season’s FA Cup, despite the best efforts of one of the most pedestrian first half Latics sides to grace the pitch this season, certainly in 2010.

I dunno about Notts County 2-2 Wigan Athletic, you might say Tim Gudgeon should have read Antonio Amaya 2-2 Wigan, because from a Latics point of view his, shall we say, slightly iffy performance all but gifted County with two goals. Well, maybe I do the Nottinghamshire side a disservice: those goals still needed sticking away, and the second in particular — a cracking free kick even David Beckham would have been proud of from Ben Davies — left Stojkovic with no chance.

In fact, Notts County punched well above their weight today, albeit against a first-half Latics side that weren’t even at the races. But a below average turn out from the Spanish centre back left fans wondering whether they would ever see him in a Wigan shirt again. Sure, there was undeniably a collective failure to repel the spirited efforts of a club in the midsts of financial insecurity — which this tie, of course, will go some way to easing — but a man with an ulterior motive would single out Amaya for toilet duties first thing on Monday morning.

Or, at least another lengthy spell in the reserves. Not that I would make the guy a scapegoat for any of Latics’ failings, with Gohouri and Caldwell waiting in the wings, you get the feeling old Antonio’s days as a first team player could well be numbered, at least for this season.

What of the aforementioned début boy, then? Well, his attacking prowess could come in handy for Martinez’s grand plan, but the necessity for Wigan to push forward in the second half this afternoon meant he was either putting it about in the opposition half or stuck at the back marking the whippet-like (!) Lee Hughes. I reckon we should see how he fares in the Premier League before passing judgement.

Whether it was lack of match practice leading to tired legs on behalf of the hosts or just a whopping great kick up the backside from Bob, Latics played more like the Premier League team from the 40 minute mark onwards. James McCarthy managed to find the outside half of Kasper Schmeichel’s left hand post from the edge of the 6-yard box, forcing County into a ‘hoof it clear’ mentality they never really escaped from for the remainder of the game.

Doesn’t it just show the steps we’ve made under Martinez when it comes to criticising the other team for their route one tactics? Not to devalue it as a method, but I feel we’ve had our fair share of that under Steve Bruce so please forgive me for being sick of it.

Scotland finally breaks his duck

2-0 down at the break, Roberto had to somehow drag Latics from the depths of despair, for at that time they were crashing out of the competition to a side more than sixty places below them in the league ladder. Whatever he did or said, it seemed to work: Wigan re-emerged a changed side, looking positive and generally exhibiting some (gasp!) Premier League quality. Look no further than a Jason Scotland goal for evidence of this. Yep, you heard me right – Jason Scotland actually scored, and it was a decent one-two with Rodallega that brought the chance.

I think the world is about to explode or something. This earth shattering point is so important it needs its own paragraph – Jason Scotland scored for Wigan.

(Voice in distance, eminating from somewhere roundabout the DW Stadium’s East Stand: About bloody time!)

Latics would continue in much the same vein, pushing hard for that second goal. County sat back, allowing the visiting side to play their natural passing game, which eventually led to a Ben Watson equaliser with seven minutes left on the clock. This set up an end-to-end, grandstand finish which saw both sides go close as they pressed for the win, but the papers will have to wait a little longer to see if Little Wigan will be knocked out by Big Notts County. I can just see it in the Daily Mail: Little County hammer Tiny Wigan.

Now, I missed the first 35 minutes of the game due to technical difficulties with the wonderful Latics Player, but from some retrospective comments from Graham Lovett,  it sounded as though Wigan were soundly outplayed in that period. From what I witnessed (or heard, or whatever), some sort of miraculous change must have taken place, because they weren’t exactly performing as badly as the 2-0 scoreline might have suggested.

In the end it was probably a fair reflection of the match, as although Latics did more than enough to actually win the tie on the day, Notts County certainly had their fair share of chances. This is where Wigan’s second debutant of the afternoon came into his own: keeper Vladimir Stojkovic did all that was asked of him and his second half performance impressed this Latics fan at the very least. In my opinion, he couldn’t do much to stop the two goals he conceded, but expertly handled everything else that was thrown at him… but then, you could say he ought to against a League Two side.

That would be cruel, though, because we all know there are no easy ties in the FA Cup… oh wait, isn’t that the Premier League? Well, mainstream media, I’m borrowing your quote for another competition altogether.

A replay back in Wigan then, and I’ll eat my hat if there are less than 6,000 at the DW for that tie, even though it’ll be a Tuesday or Wednesday night. I’ll bet you now, though, the media will have a field day taking pot shots at Little Wigan with their paltry attendances, as you can bet ticket uptake won’t come near to Premier League standards.

Still, we ought to roll ‘em over back here in Lancashire. Well, you have to take a positive attitude towards these games, eh? It might come as some consolation to you that it wasn’t exactly a first choice line-up that conceded those two goals, and you can’t deny it’s been another learning experience for Martinez and his growing Latics squad.