Belief is as strong as it's ever been for Wigan Athletic manager

Despite enjoying almost 75 per cent of the possession against a Birmingham side that had lost their last four matches, Latics had to settle for a point thanks to Ashley Fletcher's equaliser on the hour mark.

While the point lifts Latics off the foot of the Championship, the gap to fourth-bottom Cardiff has been extended to six points.

Not that Maloney is wasting any time worrying about the ramifications of the league ladder.

"I don't spend too much energy on what the teams around us are doing," he said. "We just have to prepare to win every game, and that's what you saw again today.

"The game became quite open, quite stretched, which we had to do.

"We made substitutions to try to win the game, and we'll keep doing the same for the rest of the season.

"I hope what you saw again was that even if we go 1-0 down, the players don't stop believing they can win the game.

"I won't stop believing, the players won't stop believing, and neither should anyone.

“If I could want more, it is to be more aggressive in the final third, and have the belief that we can hurt teams.

"The game became a little bit open at times, but I’m pleased overall, even in a game which I thought we could have won.”

Maloney of all people has reason to believe, having been part of one of the greatest escapes in history as a player back in 2011/12, when Latics won seven of their last nine games to stay up with a week to spare under Roberto Martinez.

"It doesn't feel like we're quite in that situation yet," acknowledged Maloney. "But the players need to keep believing they're good enough to stay in this league.

"I certainly believe we've got a chance of staying in this league, and that is a very different feeling to what it was like five or six weeks ago."