Five things we learned from Gillingham (home)

1 What an absolute champion is Nick Powell! As if his standing among Latics fans wasn’t high enough, after rejecting Premier League interest on transfer deadline day, the former Manchester United man produced another sublime display. His bullet header to make it 2-0 was right out of the top drawer, but it was one arrogant flick that took out two Gillingham players in the blink of an eye to release Nathan Byrne that brought chuckles of admiration from the stands. Pure footballing filth. And magnificent to watch.

2 Will Grigg is still on fire! It was no surprise to see the Northern Ireland international opening the scoring at the weekend. The deadly strike on 10 minutes makes it 15 for the season now - and another in the eye for those fools who doubted him after a slow start. Two seasons ago, Grigg finished Wigan’s League One title-winning campaign with 21 goals in the last 22 matches - and 29 in total. This time he’s kicked for home even earlier, with 12 in his last 15 games - taking his tally to 15 - and three months of the season to go. At this rate another Golden Boot could be on the way.

3 The Latics defence is as tight as cramp! Another clean sheet makes it eight shut-outs in the nine league games since Christian Walton returned from a broken leg, with the only goal conceded in that time being a penalty at Plymouth last month. The 13 goals Latics have shipped from their 28 matches played is the best record in England by far, and Walton will be the first to deflect praise on to the likes of Nathan Byrne, Chey Dunkley, Dan Burn, Reece James, Sam Morsy and Max Power for the protection he’s being afforded.

4 Respect among football supporters is still alive and well! Despite the Latics fanbase being mocked up and down the country for some reason, despite being up there near the top of the League One table numbers-wise, the home supporters inside the DW gave their Gillingham counterparts a nice round of applause when the away crowd number of 349 was read out. Dedication to the cause like that deserves celebration, not ridicule, and fans of certain other clubs would do well to remember that.

5 Shrewsbury aren’t going away! Despite promotion rivals Blackburn coming a cropper at Plymouth - making Wigan’s 3-1 victory down at Home Park last month look even more impressive - Shrewsbury came up with another late winner to stay on the coat-tails of Paul Cook’s men. Incredibly, the Shrews have now scored EIGHT times after the 85th minute of a game, which has earned them an additional FIFTEEN points. Whether they can keep that up for a whole season is debatable, but it shows the tremendous spirit and determination in the camp that’s underpinning their charge.