Five things we learned from Wigan Athletic's trip to Blackburn

Wigan Athletic came back from the dead to record what could prove to be a priceless point at Blackburn on Sunday. Here are five things we learned from a pulsating afternoon at Ewood Park.
Michael Jacobs gets stuck in at BlackburnMichael Jacobs gets stuck in at Blackburn
Michael Jacobs gets stuck in at Blackburn

1 This Wigan Athletic side has some character! For most of this term, Latics have steamrolled the opposition on the way to the top of the table. But on a difficult pitch, against an in-form Rovers outfit, they had to dig deep and show the other side of their game when the pressure was on. And they passed the test with flying colours.

2 Bradley Dack is a decent player! He may like the feel of the grass on his backside - judging by the amount of time he spent on the floor - but there’s no doubting the quality of the Rovers man. All the pre-match talk had centred on his battle with Nick Powell and, with two assists, he shaded the battle on the day. Of course, the war - ie the League One title - remains to be won.

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3 The Latics fans played their part in the comeback! Despite the freezing cold weather, and the game being on the telly, an impressive 2,367 made the trip to Ewood Park - and boy did they make their presence felt. Boss Paul Cook admitted after the game his half-time team-talk had centred on not wanting to send the fans home with seeing a bit of fight...and the players responded in the perfect fashion.

4 The standard of refereeing in League One leaves a lot to be desired! Of course, we’ve known this for quite some time. But it was amusing to see the reaction on social media during the game, from fans of Premier League clubs tuning in, on just how bad Geoff Eltringham’s performance was. And they thought top-flight whistlers were bad...

5 It’s advantage Latics for the run-in! A Rovers win and the nine-point gap - albeit with Latics having four games in hand - would have looked daunting. But keeping it to six certainly means Latics have retained the advantage. Second-placed Shrewsbury would have also been pleased to see both sides dropping points but, realistically, Latics and Rovers have to be strong favourites at the moment to occupy the top two spots.