Bury 0 Latics 2: Five things we learned

1 Not everyone sits back against Latics.

At times this season, Wigan have either been frustrated by teams who put 11 men behind the ball or totally torn apart sides that play with fear against them. Bury can be put in neither of those brackets. They were the better side by far until Wigan’s opener and even at 2-0 down they pushed forward. They’ve probably left themselves too much to do now to stay up but they’re going down with some fight.

2 Nick Powell is a frustrating genius.

There are still a lot of debates going on about who is League One’s best player with Blackburn’s Bradley Dack and Wigan’s Powell seemingly the two frontrunners. In truth, it’s a debate that will never be resolved but the magic of Powell really is unquestionable.

The minute leading up to his goal summed him up. Made three lazy errors (gave the ball away, gave a free kick away, got booked) and then glided up the field and scored. For every ‘what’s he doing there?’ moment, there are at least three moments of quality.

3 Chey Dunkley is a goal machine.

That’s three goals in five now for the big centre-half, meaning he’s now Latics’ fourth top scorer.

But let’s not forget the fantastic job he does at the back too.

Coupled with Dan Burn, Wigan’s defence has been

terrific this season and if they are to be promoted, Dunkley will have played an absolutely pivotal role.

4 Wigan can mix it up.

A true sign of a good side is one who has more than one dimension.

Everyone loves nice, passing football but sometimes you do need to have other options.

Like many others in League One, Bury’s pitch was basically a sand pit and if Latics had attempted to play their usual brand of football on it for 90 minutes they would have come unstuck.

But they didn’t, they mixed it up and played it down the channels and sometimes more direct than usual. And it worked.

5 Shrewsbury always win 1-0. 
We’re getting to that point of the season where checking other results while watching Latics is a must.

Wigan fans were singing about being top of the league as they were winning and while promotion rivals Shrewsbury were being held by Wimbledon.

But, predictably, the Shrews got their second-half goal.

This is a season that will go to the wire because their resilience and work ethic is matching that of Wigan and Blackburn’s. It’s going to be a nervy home-run.